Fathers and Daughters
by GreenYoda987
Summary: When Garrus Vakarian and Jane Shepard's daughter turns 15, she starts dating a boy who is a few years older and very different from herself. How will Garrus react to his daughter's boyfriend, to the cultural differences in parenting style, and to his old fears that start resurfacing? FemShepxGarrus, post-ME3, happy ending. Rated M for language, violence, and mature situations.
1. Prologue: Rifle Practice

**I've been reading Mass Effect fanfiction for a while, but this is the first idea I've had that I decided to publish. I haven't written anything in ages, so I would love to hear what my readers think; good or bad, any critique would be greatly appreciated! Also, I want to send a huge thank you to Sereneffect, my wonderful editor and beta. She is absolutely amazing!**

**Author's note: This chapter is the prologue; there is a small bit of back story in it and it also gives a little insight to some character relationships. The prologue takes place in 2200, 14 years after the end of Mass Effect 3; the main story will take place in 2204, 18 years after the events of Mass Effect 3. This chapter is pretty tame, but, I assure you, there will be interspecies smut in the near future; thus, this story is rated M for graphic depictions of violent situations, adult language, and some very mature content. And, as we all know, Mass Effect and its characters belong to Bioware.**

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"You be careful, alright? Don't let your dad do anything too crazy." Jane knelt down and tucked the strawberry blond curls behind her daughter's ears.

"Mom, I'll be fine," the young girl huffed out, rolling her eyes at her mom. She was holding her dad's hand, standing close to his legs, with her backpack slung over her shoulder.

"Okay, I'll miss you. Just… be careful. And have fun. I love you sweetie," she said, bending forward and kissing her daughter. Jane stood up and looked over to her husband.

"Be safe, okay? I don't want either of you coming back with anything broken."

"Jane, we'll be fine. You know I would never let anything happen to her."

"I know, I just… I don't like you going without me."

"Jane—" he moved towards her, wrapping her in his free arm, but she cut him off before he could finish, pressing the side of her face against his chest and reaching down and smoothing out her daughter's hair once again.

"I know, I know. Father-daughter time," she mumbled. "I get it. Just… be safe. Please? Both of you?" She looked down pointedly at her daughter who, once again, rolled her eyes.

"We will." He stooped to pick up his daughter, settling her on his hip and heading off for the skycar. All their gear was already packed up and the range wasn't that far away; it was a nice day – though still a bit too chilly for his liking. Hopefully they could actually get a good amount of practice in. He opened the side door and set his daughter down in the seat, making sure to secure all the clasps on the belt. Shutting the door, he turned back towards the house and walked back over to his mate.

"I love you, Jane," he said, bending down and pressing his brow plates against her forehead, a gesture she returned immediately. She reached up, standing on her tiptoes, and wrapped her arms around his cowl, brushing her cheek against his unscarred mandible and planting a kiss on his mouth plates.

"I love you, too, Garrus. Ping me if you need anything," she said, pulling away from him. He nodded before turning back and walking towards the car.

* * *

"Alright, we are going to be using a stand today. When you get a little older, we can train without it, but for now, you'll need it to hold the rifle steady."

"Did Gaius need it when he started?" Emma looked sideways at her father as she waited for an answer and Garrus realized that she wanted to know if she was doing better than her brother. _She hasn't even started shooting and she's already competing. She's so much like her mother…_

"Yes, your brother did. Even I started out using a stand – your mother too," Garrus said as he started unpacking all the equipment. Jane had called in a favor or two, reserving the entire open air shooting range for them today: one of the many benefits of having Admiral Jane Shepard as your mate – besides, the Alliance had plenty of indoor ranges that could be used for drills. Once all the bags were out of the skycar and swung over his shoulders, he reached down and grabbed his daughter's hand and started off over the hill towards the first set of targets.

"When did Gaius stop needing it?"

"Ahh… I think it was around this time last year – just after he turned 13."

They reached the first grouping of targets and Garrus started unpacking the rifles and equipment, while his daughter started roaming around the area – he was thankful that the whole range was deserted; having a 10 year old wandering around a busy marine shooting range was not a comforting thought. He got the tripod stands set up, trying to approximate her height for now, and got both their rifles out. Jane had bought him the newest version of his prized Widow a few weeks back, and he was still modding it, trying to make sure all the specifics were tweaked to his liking; this would be a perfect day to test out his new scope.

"Emma, come on over here and let's get started." She trotted over, her eyes immediately catching the brand new Mantis that he was holding out for her.

"Is that one mine?" her eyes lit up as she quickly ran over to him.

"Yeah, it's… ah… brand new. Your mother wanted you to train on one of hers, but… your dad figured that you should have your own," he trailed off, mandibles flaring in an impish grin. Jane had almost insisted that he train their daughter on one of her old rifles, saying that there was no need to go buy Emma a brand new one, considering they weren't even sure she would like shooting. He'd almost agreed; but then Emma had started asking him questions about his Widow one day, and he'd promptly decided that she should have her own. If she was anything like her mother – or him – she would appreciate it; there was something special about having your very own rifle. And, if Emma's current smile was anything to go by, that was apparently the right choice. He smiled lovingly at his daughter as she reached out to accept her new gift.

"I love it! Thanks, Daddy!" she said, quickly grabbing the rifle and just as quickly almost dropping it. Garrus reached out and grabbed the barrel of it before it landed, laughing.

"And that's why we'll be using the stands today. Heavy, right?"

"Yeah," she said, still looking over the Mantis, lightly tracing the edges of it; he chuckled. _At least she appreciates a good rifle._

"Alright, here's the one you'll be using when standing – we are just going to be focusing on aiming today so you get an idea for how this is supposed to feel. Most of the rifle weight will be on the stand, but you will still be able to feel the pressure against your shoulder and arm. And depending on how you do on this, I may show you how to shoot while lying down. But we'll be practicing this a lot, so don't worry if we don't get to it today." He motioned towards the tripod situated in front of her, set up alongside his own stand.

"So, ah… the barrel of the rifle lays here. Your shoulder will help support the back end." Garrus pulled his Widow up to the stand, situating his arm to demonstrate to his daughter. "And then you'll look down the scope, finding your target in the sights." Once again, he demonstrated, measurements immediately flickering across his visor as it calculated the distance, height, gravity, and wind speed, displaying the trajectory the round would take – his daughter wouldn't have the luxury of a visor, so he'd be teaching her the old fashion way; she'd pick up everything eventually, it would just take time and practice.

"Can you help me get this up? I can't… pick it up myself," Emma said, trying to hoist the butt of her rifle up off the ground.

"Yeah, just hold on a second. You need to be wearing, ah… protection things… for your ears." Garrus rummaged through his bag once again, pulling out a pair of large round cushion things that were supposed to protect Emma's ears from loud noises. At this point, he was hardly surprised anymore whenever he learned of a new way humans were fragile and soft; he was immensely thankful that Jane had thought of these ear protection cushions – he couldn't bear the thought of his daughter getting hurt, especially if it was because of something he did or didn't do.

"Here, put these on." She grabbed them and slid them over her head, situating them over her ears. "Now here, let me help you with the rifle."

She immediately reached up and removed one side of the headpiece, her face questioning as she looked up at him. "Dad, I can't hear you when you talk that quiet. Remember? These block out noise," she said amusedly.

"Oh, ah… right," he said, reaching up to scratch the back of his neck. "Well, just wait then and put them on right when we are about to start shooting."

"Okay," she said, pulling the headpiece down and resting it around her neck.

"Alright, here, let me help get you set up." Garrus reached down and helped her pick up the rifle and situate it on the stand so that it was balanced. "Now, you come stand here and hold it like this" – he moved her so she was positioned behind the end of the Mantis, the butt of the rifle resting against her shoulder – "and then you put one hand here – yes, that's good – and the other goes back here, so your fingers can grasp the trigger – yes, perfect." He barely had to help her position herself and once the rifle was firmly nestled against her shoulder, her fingers resting on the trigger, she glanced over to him and cocked her head to the side, raising her eyebrows.

"Daddy, I know how to hold a rifle. You are always messing around with yours in the house."

"Right… well, ah… the hand positioning can be tricky to get if you are trying on your own the first time, but, yeah, you seem to have a good grasp of it." He rolled his eyes, chiding himself: _Here you go, underestimating your daughter. Didn't Jane teach you to not underestimate humans? _

"I'm not a kid anymore, Dad; I know what I'm doing. I'm almost 11."

_Spirits, she's growing up too fast._

"I know Emma, I just…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "You really are just like your mother… Okay, since you obviously have been paying attention, let me run through some specifics so we can get to the shooting part – I know, you probably know all these, but just let me run through them anyway. Quickly, I promise."

She nodded, absently looking through the scope of the rifle while her father continued. "Now, you are going to be looking through the scope with your right eye. The left you want to keep open so you can maintain a sense of distance – if you close it, you won't be able to tell how far away the target really is. Now today, the targets are closer, but as you keep practicing, I'll move us farther and farther away. I just want to you get a good feel for everything today."

He moved in behind her, checking her hand placement, and then continued. "Now, you want to make sure that the rifle is fit snuggly up against your arm; you want to be able to feel the weight of the gun – almost like it is part of your arm. And, when you take the shot, the kick is going to be pretty strong, so I'll be standing behind you to make sure you don't fall backwards. That's also why you are wearing a padded vest – I don't want you getting hurt. I'm also going to have my hands over yours, stabilizing the rifle a bit" – Emma huffed and looked back at him, giving him the classic 'Jane Shepard eye roll' she had perfected over the years – "I know, you can probably do this by yourself. But, just let me, please?" She sighed and nodded, turning her head back to the rifle and looking through the scope again.

"Okay, now, once you line up your target – aim a little above the very center – you'll want to count your heartbeat and try to make sure it's steady. You want to find the rhythm and then start counting your breaths. After everything is lined up, inhale, then count to three and make sure your crosshairs don't move. Shoot before you exhale. If you inhale and you lose your focus or the target moves in your sights, don't shoot – just exhale and start over. Never take the shot just to take a shot. Make sure it counts."

"Can I go ahead and try?"

Garrus chuckled. "Sure, let me go grab the thermal clips and you can help me load everything. Then you can try." They loaded the Mantis – she obviously had been watching him around the house as she did most of it by herself – and then he helped her get the rifle back up on the stand and got her positioned again. She pulled the ear protection over her head and leaned down to look through the sights; Garrus situated himself behind her, making sure to support the rifle a bit, placing his talons over her fingers. It took her a few minutes to get everything lined up and stabilized, but Garrus just stood there, patiently waiting, not saying a word; years of practice allowed him to stand in the same position, not fidgeting, for a while – a skill he never could have imagined he would need in any situation other than a firefight. He was still amazed that he had a daughter. He was brought out of his reverie when Emma's fingers twitched over the trigger. When she finally took the shot, it barely missed, just clipping the edge of the target; she bounced back, the kick knocking the butt of the rifle into her shoulder, but Garrus caught her, holding her steady.

"Good! That was great Emma!"

"But… I missed…" she whined, sounding thoroughly disappointed.

"You grazed the edge of the target. That's very good for your first shot." He gave her shoulders an encouraging squeeze. They reloaded the rifle and she tried again, this time missing the target entirely. Garrus merely told her that most people don't even hit the target the first time and she had grazed it, so missing the second time around was perfectly fine; she just needed to be patient and try not to rush anything. She kept practicing, each time trying something a little differently as her father continued to offer her tips about her aim or stance.

After a couple of hours at the stand, she was starting to drag.

"Daddy… this is hard. I'm not good at this," she whined. She almost dropped the rifle when her arm faltered, but Garrus reached over and grabbed it, helping her lower it to the ground so it was propped up against the stand.

"Emma, you're doing fine. It's always hard at the beginning, but you'll get better. We'll practice a lot."

"But my shoulder hurts and it's heavy."

Garrus chucked, mandibles flaring outward in a turian grin, as his daughter continued to complain. "You know, your brother was never this difficult…" he teased, bending down and pressing his brow to the top of her head.

"He's a lot bigger than me, Dad! It probably wasn't as hard for him…"

"Yes, he is bigger than you. He also didn't do nearly as well as you are doing on his first time. You're a natural. Take after your dad," he rumbled, turning her around and brushing back the hair from her face. Her frown wavered slightly as she looked up at him, a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth; he knelt down and hugged her. Spirits, he loved this girl. No one could have ever prepared him for how strongly he would feel for her; he remembered his father telling him how overly protective he was of Sol – about how he cared for her more than anything – but he never could have imagined the feeling. It wasn't until Jane had told him that she was pregnant that he understood, and even then, the full feeling didn't sink in until Emma was born. He would do anything for her; anything for his family.

Her stomach made a growling noise and he abruptly let go of her, pulling back to look at her. He suddenly realized that they had been at this for hours and she was probably hungry. "I think your mom packed lunch for you… Do you want to take a break?" he asked apologetically; he'd gotten so caught up in watching his daughter fire the Mantis that he'd forgotten about everything else. Emma looked so much like Jane when she was firing – her eyes would light up when she hit the target or her mouth would form a thin, frustrated line when she missed – and he got lost in his memories.

"Yeah… is that okay?" she asked him, hugging him back tightly.

"Of course it is. Here, let me take that" – he stood back up and reached over to where her rifle was resting against the stand – "and you go grab some food. I think it's in your bag."

She wandered over to the skycar, trying to locate her bag while Garrus took her rifle and went to grab his Widow. He had propped it up against his own stand after his initial demonstration and it had stayed there, virtually untouched for the majority of the morning. He'd just have to come back sometime and actually test out his new mods… maybe, he could get Jane to come with him. They hadn't gone to the range together in a while; maybe they could get someone to watch Emma for a day while they went out and practiced…

"Dad? Are you going to eat?"

He shook his head dispelling his thoughts and strolled over to the car where Emma was sitting, eating her sandwich while her legs hung, dangling out of the door. Laying the rifles in the front seat, he grabbed a dextro ration pack – he'd gotten so used to eating them over the years on the _Normandy_, the taste didn't bother him anymore; and it was such a convenient way to eat – and rested his shoulder against the side of the car, turning to face his daughter who was busily munching at her lunch.

"Are you having fun at least?" he asked, hoping that she was still enjoying herself a bit. Jane had promised that he could teach Emma to shoot – it was something that meant a lot to him; his own father had taken so much pride in teaching both him and Sol and he wanted to be able to do the same for his daughter. He had originally thought it was a turian thing – to want to teach your children how to shoot a gun – but Jane had told him she thought it was simply a father thing – regardless of species.

"Yeah… I'm just… not very good at it."

"Emma, you're doing great. Honestly, you really are doing fine. It just takes some practice. When I first met your mother, I had to give her some tips – even she needed some, ah… practice."

"Really?" her face seemed to perk up a bit at that, looking a little less downcast.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, my sniping abilities were one of the main reasons that she always took me along on missions. She would take the short range weapons, and I'd use my rifle. Now, ah… don't tell you mother I told you this, but we kept a running tally of every, ah… shot, and… Well, I won," he scratched the back of his fringe remembering all the times they had made bets on who would come out of a mission with the higher kill count.

She grinned up at him and he grinned back, his mandibles flaring out.

"Can you tell me another one of your stories? About you and mom?" she asked before taking another bite of her sandwich.

"Sure," he started racking his brain, trying to think of what stories he'd told her and which ones he hadn't. "Hmm… Have I ever told you about the time your mom yelled at a krogan scout who was hiding in a hospital room, too afraid to move?"

"No." Emma's eyes widened slightly and Garrus chuckled; she loved hearing about all their missions. He wouldn't be surprised at all if she ended up joining the Alliance when she was old enough, following in her mother's footstep. That thought broke his heart a little though. Their son was already antsy enough to get off Earth and go to Palaven to join the military; he didn't like the idea that his daughter would be following the same path as well. Any good turian would be proud their children wanted to join the military, fight for their species, but he couldn't bring himself to be happy; he was already scared to death his son would get injured in combat – he didn't need his daughter risking her life as well. And, Jane… Spirits knew he never stopped worrying about her – he couldn't imagine life without her in it. He cared for her far too much. He shook his head, once again, trying to drag his thoughts back to the present, and started telling his daughter the krogan scout story.

_Maybe one day she'll find someone who means as much to her as Jane does to me – someone who can give her the same love and camaraderie, someone worth fighting for…_

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**Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed the prologue! I'd love to know what you thought!**


	2. Everyday Life

**Chapter 1 for Fathers and Daughters is up! This chapter marks the beginning of the main story and takes place in 2204, when Emma is fifteen years old. This chapter was originally over ten thousand words, but I ended up cutting it in two. And, of course, I decided to break it in two at the worst part, right when it was getting good and steamy. Sorry in advance for the awful cliffhanger!**

**Sereneffect deserves another huge thank you for editing everything and beta reading this story. She's been an amazing springboard to bounce ideas off of and I really appreciate all of her encouragement. Thank you! Another thank you all of those that read the prologue and to those that followed, favorited, or reviewed! As a reminder, this is rated M for interspecies smut and adult language! Also, Mass Effect belongs to Bioware. **

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"So," Jane Shepard drawled, "are you going to be alright tonight?" She rounded the corner from the hallway, sauntering into the kitchen; her hair was still damp from the shower and she was toweling it, trying to squeeze out the excess water. Her husband was sitting on a bar stool at the counter, fiddling with some new mods for his Widow.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… considering the last time Emma came home with a date, you scared the poor boy to death with your very descriptive account of Archangel's heroics…" she hopped up on the counter by the refrigerator, laying the towel across her legs and raking her fingers through her hair, clearing out some of the residual tangles; she'd left early this morning to drop Emma off at her boyfriend's house before heading over to headquarters for some drills.

"We were simply talking about good military tactics…" her husband trailed off, looking far too interested in the mods which were scattered all over the marble counter top – along with some oil and grease smears.

"Yes, which you brought up. I believe we were talking about what they were each doing in school when you cut in with 'I remember this one time…' The poor kid was from a civilian family!" Shepard groaned out exasperatedly.

"Well, if he expected to date her, he needed to get used to military talk," he rumbled, looking up at his mate.

"Garrus… no one is used to you describing in vivid detail how an 18-year-old, hot-shot, gun-for-hire got the back of his head blown out by one of Archangel's 'perfect headshots'," she rolled her eyes, trying to stifle a grin that threatened to erupt on her face. Despite what she was saying, her husband's stories always reminded her of the old days, when they ran across the galaxy, trying to save everyone, never returning to the _Normandy _without a few stories and broken bones or plates. "I'm pretty sure your exact words were 'And, then his brains exploded out the back of his head, splattering the wall before the life had even left his eyes'. That poor kid had never even held a gun and avoided Emma for the next month!"

"What can I say?" he shrugged, casually averting his eyes from her mock glare and glancing back down to his weapons mod. He was rather pleased with himself.

"Well… at least this boy has a little military experience. From what I've heard about him, he's a couple years older than her and has some training in hand-to-hand and a bit in short range weapons. Though, Emma said he's much more interested in history than the military."

Garrus had stopped listening the moment he heard military, his head snapping back to his mate. "How much military experience?" he growled out.

Jane just rolled her eyes. "Well, I've heard he's trained with a few drell who have left the service of the hanar – his parents are both rather highly respected officials. I actually think his dad is a Spectre. The kid seems to be from a really good family and I think he would be—"

"You think he's a 'good fit' for our daughter?"

"Garrus, I believe you were the one who just said 'If he's going to date her, he needs to get used to military talk'. Besides, I think they would be a good match, especially if she ends up enlisting – they could even run some drills together. You know she's the best in her class in rifles and, well… the stubborn sniper and the shotgun expert…?" She glanced up at him through her lashes with an innocent smile. He knew that smile.

She was obviously trying to appease him, and in spite of himself, Garrus's eyes softened, his mandibles flaring into a small smile. He'd always been her sniper – always on her six. Since she had recruited him on the Citadel, he had joined her on almost every mission, if you negate the two years she was… well, he'd always had her back – and always would. He couldn't bear the thought of her being alone and vulnerable; he had never dealt with that well, even before they had even considered "blowing off steam". After they were reunited on Omega, he never wanted to let her out of his sight, terrified that she would get caught in another life or death situation and he wouldn't be there to save her. And, those protective feelings only amplified once they had started their relationship – it had never been about easing tension for him; it could never be just that with her. And no matter how hard he tried to rationalize that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself – she was N7 and a Council Spectre – he couldn't shake the protective instinct; she was his mate and he'd be damned if anything happened to her. Or their child.

He remembered when Shepard had first told him she was pregnant and the fear that engulfed him. She was still on duty and wouldn't be taking her leave for another 3 months. Even the crew members of the _Normandy _that knew him the best left him a wide berth those first few months; he had followed Jane throughout the ship, never leaving her side, glaring at almost anyone who got too close. He was pretty sure he even growled at Vega once or twice when he had causally patted her on the back. Garrus had tried to rein it all in – for her – since everyone on that ship was her family, but he couldn't seem to control it; turians were infamous for their protective streak – especially when their mate was pregnant. And, even though Shepard wasn't pregnant with his offspring, biologically speaking, he never once felt like it wasn't his child.

Emma… She was so much like her mother; she had the same stubbornness and the same passion that Jane did. He was pretty sure those qualities were passed on from Jane rather than the donor. In fact, Emma seemed to have gotten most of Shepard's qualities: they had the same eyes and the same freckles that littered their faces. The main visible difference between them – besides their age – was Emma's hair; Emma's was strawberry blond and had more of a curl to it while Jane's was straight and red. Really, she just seemed like a miniature Jane Shepard, so much in fact, that he truly feared she would pack up and join the Alliance the minute she turned 18. They would support her fully if she wanted to join the military, but Garrus wasn't overly keen on it. Though, he had to admit, it was better than her starting to date; the military taught a person to defend themselves, it helped a person to become stronger. Dating… that was all about a person letting down their barriers and showing their weaknesses.

He didn't like the idea that Emma would ever be forced to rely on anyone else – in her personal life or in a combat situation. Especially in a combat situation. Even if she was in cover, far away from the action, sniping everyone… the questions ate at him. _What if something went wrong? What if someone snuck up behind her when no one was watching her six? What if she went down to help and got cornered, unable to defend herself? What if… what if this boy accidentally hurt her himself?_ The moment when Shepard's head had lined up directly with his crosshairs on the Citadel… it still haunted him. He had been so focused on killing Sidonis, so focused on his own agenda, that he hadn't even paid much attention to where Jane actually was. And his fingers had been so twitchy that day… No. He couldn't imagine his daughter entrusting her life to anyone else. Too much could go wrong.

"No," he snapped. "She doesn't need anyone else protecting her. She doesn't need to be putting her life in someone else's hands. I'm the only one who…" he trailed off, mandibles fluttering as he realized what he just admitted.

"Oh… So that _is _what this is all about?" Shepard smirked, raising her eyebrows at Garrus. She'd noticed her husband had been a bit more protective around Emma over the past few months, and she'd figured that it was because their daughter was starting to date, but he had never actually admitted it.

"Garrus, you know if she ends up joining the military, you aren't going to be able to be there for her all the time right?" she said gently, shooting him an almost resigned look. She didn't like it much either – the thought of her daughter dating or enlisting – but she knew how teenage girls were; mainly, she knew how Emma was. Their daughter was just as passionate and headstrong as she had been as a teen. Besides, Jane was far more concerned about Gaius who was off on another planet, working his way up the ranks at just 18, with no family to come home to at night, no parents to give him support…

Her thoughts were cut off by her husband's worried trill. "Jane, I—"

"Garrus. Just… be nice, please? Give him a chance? I'm sure he isn't going to kidnap her and drag her off to Omega or anything," Garrus scowled at her as she tossed the towel to the side and hopped off the counter. She walked around behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, bringing her hands up his carapace. He never tired of her touch; even after all these years it still felt just as fresh, just as intimate as it had on that first night. Jane began to trace patterns on his plates, pressing in here and there, skillfully finding all the tension in the muscles beneath his plates and rubbing it away, while she simultaneously planted light kisses on his cowl. He absently thought about how their relationship had started and that fateful conversation about "easing tension". Jane continued the slow massaging patterns as his thoughts wandered; once she felt some of the tension ease out of his body, she moved around to the side of the bar stool, gently turning her husband's head so he was looking at her.

"Come on Garrus, don't you remember how nervous I was when I met your father? I was scared he'd throw me out the house 'cause I had 'sullied the Vakarian name!' and then burn off your markings! And he _did_ scare me the first time, almost enough to make me second guess my choice in mates…" she trailed off, eyebrows raised in a teasing fashion.

"What? Second guess bonding with the most feared vigilante in the Terminus?" He brought his hand up and brushed his fingers tenderly over Jane's bondmark, tracing the jagged edges of the scar.

"Oh yes, 'cause that's _such_ a great catch for an Alliance Admiral and Council Spectre," she nodded slowly, eyebrows raised.

"Well, you needed someone to keep your stress at bay… and, of course, to watch your back. Do you even know how many times I had to cover your ass" – he turned around on the stool, reaching down and giving her rear a tight squeeze; she squeaked – "from mercs that snuck up behind you? You were always so focused on blowing bodies – or crates – to the other side of the room with your shotgun," he purred affectionately, dipping his head and fluttering his mandibles against the side of her neck.

"Someone had to make those missions interesting…" she said, trailing off as his hands roamed up to her lower back, talons ghosting over the thin fabric of her tank. He trailed one hand down to the hem of her shirt, fiddling with the edge, as the other came up to grasp the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her loose, still damp hair.

"Mm hmm…yes, interesting."

The sheer power that radiated from his body never ceased to amaze her; she could feel every tendon twitch in his hands as his fingers began to massage the base of her skull. She reached around to reciprocate, grazing the back of his fringe with her nails. Her head lolled back in his hand as he started to rake a talon up her spine causing her to arch into him. His legs were spread on either side of her hips, securing her in place as he continued his ministrations. Drawing the talon down her back again, he grasped the bottom of her tank, raising it up slightly, revealing the expanse of pale flesh around her waist. She removed her hand from the back of his head momentarily, allowing him to drag her shirt up over her head, tossing it to the side.

"Jane…" he moaned, nuzzling farther in to the dip between her neck and shoulder, inhaling deeply. He'd never tire of her smell: fresh and sweet, especially when she was freshly out of the shower. She moaned as she felt his teeth graze over her shoulder, teasing her, goose bumps erupting over her body and heat shooting straight to her core. Garrus bit down slightly over the bite mark on her shoulder, barely breaking skin and eliciting another sharp moan from her lips as her hands clenched at the back of his head, nails cutting lightly into his soft flesh. One hand moved up to support her head while the other drifted down, his fingers lightly grazing over the round flesh of her backside, reaching down between her thighs and brushing against her center; she tensed and groaned at the light pressure, feeling his talons through her fatigues.

He slowly released his teeth, gently flicking his tongue over the small wound, and she pressed her head against his hand, opening more of her throat to him and his wandering mouth. She removed her hands from his fringe once again, reaching around and unclasping her bra. As the bra fell to the floor, Garrus shifted both of his hands, grabbing her waist. He turned and shoved her back up against the counter, bending her over slightly to expose more of her chest. He began to travel south with his mouth, circling one taut nipple with his tongue, carefully avoiding the peak. She arched her back further, nails scraping against his cowl for purchase, when he started nipping lightly on the underside of each breast. Jane writhed underneath him, grasping at him, trying to drag his head to where she wanted it; he simply chuckled in response, small vibrations tickling her skin.

"God, Garrus," she gasped as he grabbed her knees, spreading her legs even wider, pushing the bar stool back and maneuvering himself so he was between her thighs. He dragged his teeth down the flat of her stomach, reaching one hand up to the top of her pants, toying with the zipper.

"Garrus, please…" she moaned and he chuckled again. He loved driving her wild like this, loved hearing her voice break on his name as she begged for more. His tongue darted underneath the top of her pants where they puckered over her hips, teasing at the delicate flesh resting on top of the bone. He was just starting to undo her pants when a sharp ping rang through the kitchen. Shepard yelped and jumped, jerking her hands away from his back and planting them on the counter, trying to brace herself as she looked frantically around the room.

"50 years old and you are still acting like a new recruit caught fooling around with their XO?" he chided, head still dipped to her hip, lightly licking across her stomach. She still held the same spark that had drawn him to her in the first place; still just as fiery and energetic. Her hair was still the same sharp red, eyes still the same bright green, muscles still just as wiry and strong - courtesy of her Cerberus cybernetics. Garrus reluctantly removed his face from her stomach, missing the smell of her immediately, but brought his head up to press against her forehead. She pressed back, nuzzling against his brow, smiling up at him, while simultaneously pressing against his arms, trying to push him away from her so she could shimmy off the counter.

When he'd finally pulled himself off of her, she slid off the counter, tossing her tank back on before activating her omni-tool.

"Mom?" Emma's pale face filled up the video screen, her green eyes questioning her mother's flushed face. _Maybe she'll just think we were… sparring. Or something. _

"Emma, how are you?" Jane sounded breathless as she paced across the kitchen and Garrus smirked, pleasantly pleased that he was successful in derailing their previous conversation – he did not want Jane catching on to his tactics – and of course, that he could still turn her on just as easily. He'd heard that in humans, their sex drives tended to wane as they aged, but from what he'd experienced with her, that was either a myth or they were just perfectly matched. He tended to lean towards the latter.

"Good. Just checking in like Dad asked."

Jane scoffed, casting a sidewise glance at Garrus; he never fully understood how humans could contort their faces into such strange expression, showing so many emotions at once. Shepard currently looked like a confusing mix of exasperation and blissful amusement. He simply shrugged.

Turning back to her omni-tool, she said "Thanks, I'll make sure to tell your father." He could hear the slight scoff that came from Emma, and tried to stifle his annoyance; these women always seemed to gang up on him. It must be some human thing. _If only Gaius were here…then we'd at least be evenly matched. _

Their adopted son had left a little over three years ago, heading back to his home colony on Palaven to join the military. Gaius had been orphaned during the initial invasion of Palaven in the Reaper War – just an infant at the time. Both of his parents were killed in action trying to defend the colony from the invading husks. A chill swept though Garrus as he remembered looking up at Palaven from Menae and seeing his own home colony burning, the blaze an eerie orange. He had told Shepard and Vega that he still had family there, but it wasn't until much later that he realized just how true that was. Liara – the dutiful Shadow Broker that she was – had stumbled across Gaius when she was helping Victus contact all the other Hierarchy officials that had survived. The small turian had been transported off world at some point, and was being cared for by a young turian medic on board a frigate. The minute Liara had seen him, she'd asked the young female medic if Gaius had any family left; when she'd answered in the negative, Liara had sent Garrus a message, saying that there was a young turian boy that needed a home and if he knew of anyone who might want to take him in.

The conversation that followed had taken only minutes, both Shepard and Garrus realizing how perfect it would be; Garrus had always wanted a son and Shepard had always wished she could give him that. And what better way than to adopt a small child from Garrus's home colony? He hadn't had his markings tattooed at the time, but his plates were the same silver-grey that his adoptive father's were. Liara had gone out of her way to get Gaius to them as quickly as possible, wanting desperately to give Jane and Garrus some happiness after all they had lost; they had held their son less than a week later.

And, sure enough, true to Garrus's colony's reputation, Gaius was the model turian, loyal and righteous almost to a fault. He had wanted to join the military as soon as he was able, to do his part for Palaven; re-building was still ongoing and every planet needed as much help as they could gather. They visited him as often as they could, but it wasn't nearly as much as either of them would like. Jane was still on active duty, her position as Admiral Shepard requiring her to be stationed at Alliance headquarters for most of the year. But whenever she could grab control of the _Normandy_ and captain her own mission, she always made sure to plan a trip to see him, even if it were only a few days.

"Okay, well, we are doing lunch with his parents, so I'll let you know when I'm leaving." His daughter's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he realized he wasn't quite sure what Jane and Emma had been talking about beforehand.

It was a "weekend" or whatever that human thing was, so she wasn't in school. Turians went to their tutors every day, the focus primarily being on government and the Hierarchy or the turian military; even the females were trained in politics and war. Here on Earth though, they seemed to dawdle in a little bit of everything, so everyone was just as versed in economics as they were in math at this age – no specialization at all. Apparently the specialization came later in something they called "university" but that didn't happen until their early twenties.

"Okay sweetie, have fun!" Shepard said and shut off the connection. Garrus immediately shook his head, dispelling any other stray thoughts bouncing around, and started striding over to his mate, fully intent on continuing their previous fun.

"How come they get to have lunch with her before I even get to meet this boy?" he mumbled, starting to rub her back again; she sighed and her eyes fluttered shut in bliss as his talons scratched over her shoulder blades, somehow finding every itch that she didn't realize was there.

"Emma thought it would be better if she met them first. Apparently, they are much less intimidating than we are," she smirked, earning an amused flick of his mandibles. He moved his hands to her arms, sliding them up and down, until he stopped at her hands, gripping them in an awkward handhold that worked perfectly for them. "Anyway Garrus, I definitely don't want to" – her breath hitched as he bend down and licked a trail up her neck, stopping to nip at her earlobe – "be focusing on _that_ when you are teasing me like this."

"Then don't," he purred, receiving a shudder and a quiet gasp in return. His incessant nipping at her earlobe forced all thought out of her mind, her body simply shuddering in response. He'd backed her up, this time pinning her against the wall by the refrigerator. He grabbed her wrists and slowly brought them together over her head, enclosing both of them with one of his hands. He was flush against her, just a hair's breadth between their bodies, their foreheads touching, gently nuzzling each other. His other hand trailed down her side, coming to rest at the waistband of her pants, toying with her hip bones again. She had always loved this and never tired of it; it had something to do with the thin skin there and how his talons felt grazing over the bone. And, as the humans said "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Jane started squirming under his grasp, trying to free her hands, but Garrus just increased the pressure on her wrists, gaining a frustrated groan from her.

"Garrus, don't play," she huffed, still trying to wiggle free. Her fingers ached to be able to play with the soft skin at the back of his fringe and she flexed again, trying to free at least one of her hands. But his right hand had her arms pinned while his left just kept teasing her, never venturing farther than an inch below her belt. He bent down, nipping the side of her neck; the warmth of his breath had her craning her neck invitingly, trying to offer more of herself to him.

"Why? Do you want me to stop?" he rumbled next to her ear, a throaty growl escaping him. The growl sent a thrilling vibration down her spine; he _was_ in the mood to play. He withdrew his head from the dip in her shoulder and moved so he was directly in front of her, blocking most of the room from her view. She continued to squirm under his gaze, trying to keep up the pretense so he would continue. Garrus took a step back, making sure to maintain his grasp on her wrists, and brought his other talon up to her collarbone. He slowly started tracing the bones before dragging the talon down her front, over the swell of her breast, then over the taut peak, and finally down her ribs. She shivered.

"If you do, I'll court-martial you. Spectre authority." She tried to sound sultry, tried to bring some sort of strength to her words, but they came out sounding breathy and weak, betraying just how much she wanted him. She had always loved it when he became a bit more possessive, more dominant. It felt so… primal and raw. His talon had continued down her body, coming to rest once again at the edge of her fatigues. He was toying with the front clasp of her belt now, his talons dexterously unclasping the buckle; it's amazing what almost 20 years of practice will allow.

"Mmm… now we don't want that, do we?" He released her wrists, but, before she had time to respond, he had grabbed her and spun her around, slamming her against the refrigerator, the side of her face pressing hard into the metal. A surprised gasp escaped her as she felt him press down on her, firmly securing her.

"I guess you just have to let me…play," he purred, nipping the back of her neck. The combination of his hot breath on her throat, the cold seeping through her shirt, and the completely vulnerable position she was currently in caused her nipples to harden even more, goose bumps erupting over her chest. Her bra still lay haphazardly on the floor; she was thankful that she hadn't put it back on, as the coolness wouldn't have had the same effect. But, before her mind could follow that thought any further, Garrus repositioned her arms, bringing them down to clasp them behind her lower back. Once he had a tight grip on them, pressing his weight into her back, forcing her to remain firmly against the refrigerator, he dropped down to one knee, grabbing the edge of her pants with his other hand. He suddenly dragged them down – underwear included – to her ankles and then raked his talons back up her bare inner leg, passing over the back of her knee and up to her core. She moaned, trying to spread her legs as wide as she could, but the fatigues at her ankles prevented her from getting too far; with her wrists securely caught behind her back and her legs bound by her pants, she was completely at his mercy, her ass pressing back into the open air, wantonly.

"Ahh, Garrus…" He was playing with her inner thighs, occasionally brushing the pad of his forefinger up against her wet lips, but never pressing inside. Her legs were trembling, pulling against the merciless imprisonment of her pants. Garrus reached up and spread her lips with a forefinger and thumb, pulling a groan from his throat as her arousal hit him full in the face; his plates had fully parted, his erection throbbing in the confines of his pants. He let his tongue slip out, teasing at her entrance, but, once again, never going far enough to give her what she wanted. She tried to press back into him, attempting to angle herself to give him better access.

"Garrus, please…" she moaned, breath coming fast and hard. He groaned. He quickly flicked his tongue out, grazing over her clit, and she let out a strangled cry, writhing underneath his grip. He flicked it out again, this time dipping it into her warmth, eliciting another gasp from her lips. The taste of her quickly started to overwhelm him as he continued to tease at her bud with his finger while plunging his tongue up into her; he wasn't going to be able to keep this charade up for long.

A few blissful minutes later, she shuddered, a desperate cry coming from her lips, her inner muscles clenching around his tongue, and he lost the last of his control. _Spirits_, he needed to be inside her. He quickly started undoing the clasps of his pants, just enough to let his throbbing length out without taking his fatigues off, while his tongue was still lapping at her entrance; she sagged a bit in front of him, legs weak from her release, his arms the only thing supporting her. He stood up, gripping her wrists a little more and pushing her up on her tiptoes; her legs were still trembling and threatened to collapse underneath her if he didn't hold her up. He reached down and spread her ass, positioning himself between her thighs, sliding his tip back and forth against her wet lips, brushing over her clit with each pass; once lined up, he pressed his tip into her tight core slowly, trying to drag the first push out as long as possible. She threw her head back, eyes wide and mouth open in a silent scream. He gradually pushed forward, burying himself in her wet channel, his grip pressing into her back once again as he brought his teeth down on her shoulder, this time, sinking them in fully and reopening her scar. Jane moaned and her eyes fluttered shut as the familiar pain of piercing teeth met her shoulder; she tipped her head to the side, exposing more of her neck to her husband, as all the tension started to melt from her body. Once fully buried in her warmth, the rough edges of his fatigues pressed up against her ass, Garrus stilled for a moment, just relishing in the feel of her walls around him, tight and wet. When she wiggled her butt a bit, trying for a bit more contact, he pressed himself into her to the hilt and ground his teeth farther into her shoulder, holding her firmly in place. He was going to take his time with her today – going to make his mate beg for it. He pulled out and was slowly pressing back in when a sharp, metallic rap came from their front door.

Garrus roared; Shepard whined. Honestly, he just wanted to keep going, to keep slowly thrusting into her until she came, screaming and writhing under him. And even then, he wouldn't let up; he would just keep plunging into her, over and over, until he found his release as well, spilling himself inside her. But as he pressed into her fully once more, a second knock was heard and he knew they wouldn't be able to ignore it. He reluctantly pulled out, releasing her wrists, and she slumped to the ground, shivering, her eyes a beautiful mixture of lust and frustration; that look only made him want her more. The look she gave him also held a promise that he could continue this game later on. Her pants were still crumpled at her ankles and her shirt was wrinkled, slightly torn in the back where his hand enclosing her wrists had been. He clasped his pants back, mandibles twitching in agitation, and bent down to help her gather herself before they went to open the door.

"Do you want to go to the bedroom? I can say you're… indisposed at the moment," he said, taking a second look at her and at the trickle of blood that was dripping down her collarbone.

"That might be best," she replied faintly. "I don't know how much good I'd be at talking at the moment." She ached from the loss of contact with him, her center feeling much too empty for her liking. She grabbed her pants, pulling them up loosely as the third knock sounded on the door followed by a very loud "Quit calibrating each other and let us inside! It's cold out here!" Garrus cast a sideways glance at her, which she returned with an eye roll as she quickly stood up, grabbing the towel from earlier and trotting up the stairs toward their bedroom. Garrus turned around, and began stalking to the front door, before realizing that Jane's bra was still somewhere in the kitchen. He turned back, finally finding it underneath the table. He grabbed it and tossed it on top of the refrigerator, hoping that no one felt adventurous and looked too closely; they'd have to remember to move it before dinner tonight. He started back towards the door, trying to rein in his frustration and compose his expression as his hard length pressed firmly against his zipper, her scent lingering in the air.

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**I'm evil, I know. I promise the next chapter will be up really soon, I just have to finish tweaking a few things before I upload it. I would love to hear what you guys think, no matter if it's good, bad, or somewhere in the middle. Thank you so much for reading!**


	3. Old Fears

**Thank you to all those that read and reviewed, followed or favorited! I'm so happy to see that people are enjoying this story so far. Sereneffect deserves another huge thank you as well; she helped so much with the last portion of this chapter, which was not easy to write. I definitely couldn't do this without her… At least, not as stylishly, of course! Once again, Bioware owns Mass Effect. **

**Author's note: To my knowledge, there is no information on the whereabouts of either Kahje or Rakhana – the hanar and drell home worlds. I did a little bit of research and ended up creating my own system for these two planets; this was based off of where the majority of hanar colonized worlds are located in the Mass Effect universe. Therefore, in this story, Kahje and Rakhana are located in the Khepri System, in the southwest section of the Eagle Nebula, to the left of the Strabo System. If you can find information on the canon location of either planet, please, let me know! **

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"Joker. EDI," Garrus ground out stiffly as he opened the door.

"Woah, someone found his stick! Why so testy there Garrus? Or, wait… were you… actually… calibrating…? Never mind, I don't want to know," the pilot said, throwing his hands up in the air in mock surrender as he pushed his way inside, EDI following closely behind him.

"Commander!" he yelled out into their living room. "There's an angry turian opening your door!" Joker had never gotten used to calling her Admiral and, true to Shepard's character, she really didn't care; she had never enforced rank on any of her crew, and almost everyone called her either Shepard or Jane at this point. She was still Commander Shepard to Joker and always would be. Honestly, she probably would have turned down the promotion if the board hadn't promised that she could still captain the _Normandy _when she wasn't helping with rebuilding efforts on Earth and other planets. Earth was hit the hardest of all Council planets and the rebuilding efforts here were the most tedious; her promotion to Admiral allowed her to directly converse with government officials throughout the galaxy without having to go through standard channels. It was really more of a political move rather than a military one but she didn't care, as long as the Alliance didn't take away her crew. And, in spite of all her talk about retiring on a beach and living off of battle vid royalties, she couldn't bring herself to leave the Alliance; it was her family – all of it.

"She's currently… indisposed, Moreau." Garrus glared at Joker, mandibles pulled tight to his face as his length gave a final throb of indignation before retreating back behind his plates.

"Right… well, where's Emma? She should be somewhere around here right?" he said, looking around the room, obviously trying to derail the raging turian who looked ready to rip him apart, limb by frail limb. Joker had taken to Emma very fast; apparently she reminded him of Hilary, his younger sister that had been killed during the Reaper War. And, Emma loved having an uncle that "knew how to joke properly".

"She's actually at a… friend's house," Garrus growled out, his thoughts immediately turning back to his daughter and her… date.

"Ooh! Is she on a date?" Joker's ear perked up and he stopped midstride, glancing back towards the turian still standing in the doorway. He'd missed out on almost all of Hilary's childhood and… she'd been killed before she could actually start dating; every brother wants to watch their younger sister start dating – even if it's only for the opportunity to terrify all her boyfriends. Emma was the perfect alternative to having his own kid: he could watch her grow up but never have to reprimand her; he could just play the part of the "fun" uncle. And, he wasn't nervous about her dating; she was Admiral Shepard's daughter – anyone who messed up an opportunity to date Emma was as idiot. That boy would have half the galaxy after him if he ever hurt her – not to mention one of the most terrifying women he'd ever met and a turian who had perfected his headshots over the years. However, Garrus didn't seem to share his excitement with the situation and at his cold stare, Joker averted his gaze, dropping the subject immediately. "Right… well, uh… tell Jane to get down here." He wandered over to the couch, carefully lowering himself down.

"General Vakarian, it is nice to see you. I was pleased when Jeff said we would be taking our leave here." EDI stepped forward, extending a hand. Garrus shook it, as he always did with her, and welcomed her into their home. It still amazed him how well they complimented each other – Joker with his lack of tact and EDI with her perfect, inhuman manners. But, they worked well together, despite the very rough start to their relationship.

"It's good to see you too, EDI; we didn't know you were on leave. Jane's missed you guys. She really misses the _Normandy_."

"We miss her as well. It's just not the same riding around with James in change – I still haven't gotten used to it," Joker responded from his spot on the couch; he had his legs propped up on some pillows and was resting his back against the armrest. "Not that I mind Vega, but, he doesn't hover. It doesn't feel right without the hovering." James Vega had made his way through N7 training after the Reaper War and was subsequently given the opportunity to command his own squad and captain his own ship. He'd declined, stating that he'd rather continue to work under Jane. With Jane's persuasion, the Admirals had come to a compromise: Vega would maintain control of the _Normandy _when Shepard was stationed at Alliance Headquarters – which was the majority of the year – and when she returned to the _Normandy_, he would take up his post as her second.

EDI cocked her head to the side, her visor blinking at Joker. "But, Jeff, I distinctly remember you saying, 'So, come here too often?'. Was that not an indication of your displeasure with the Commander's presence?"

Garrus laughed, remembering all the times Joker whined about Jane's hovering. Even after all these years, certain things like sarcasm still managed to evade the unshackled AI's understanding.

"Sure, EDI, it was annoying, but… Good annoying. I liked her hovering. That's her ship."

"I see." She responded with a slight head tilt, a thoroughly human gesture she'd picked up very quickly. They all had stopped asking her what she was thinking whenever she did it – since her response was usually highly technical and far above the expected "just thinking" – and just assumed that she was trying to integrate whatever new knowledge she had gathered into her coding. Her understanding of organics was impressive, but even advanced, Cerberus built AIs, laced with Reaper Tech, still learned.

"So, Joker, I hear you miss my hovering," Shepard called from the hallway. She had managed to make herself look presentable within that short amount of time; her face was no longer flushed, her shoulder was clear of blood, her clothes were fresh and she had obviously put on another bra. But, her clean clothes and fresh face couldn't hide her arousal; her scent drifted through the room, causing Garrus to rumble lowly in his chest. She flashed him a knowing smirk.

"Commander! Your guard bird almost bit my head off when I came inside!"

"Well, Joker, you've always had impeccable timing." She looked at him with raised eyebrows and Joker just groaned.

"Jeez, Commander, I don't need that image in my head! I'm already worried I'm going to walk in on you two in the battery, I don't need to be worrying about walking in on you in your home…"

"Well, it is _my_ home, so…" she said as she shrugged, eyebrows still raised. Joker just rolled his eyes.

Laughing, she turned to EDI and gave her a hug. "How are you EDI? Are you keeping him in line?" she said, pulling away from the synthetic and nodding her head towards Joker.

"Jeff seldom requires realignment. He operates quite efficiently and rarely necessitates… calibrations."

Joker gawked at her and Shepard turned beat red; Garrus just laughed. Obviously EDI's sense of humor had continued to improve.

"Welp, I think that's everyone," Shepard said, throwing her hands up in the air in mock indignation, a flush covering her face and neck. Garrus walked over to her, still laughing, and wound his arm around her waist; Jane let her head fall to the side to rest on his shoulder.

"Oh, man, EDI… I can't believe you just…" Joker stuttered, mouth still gaping at her. "I mean… I guess I should be glad that I don't… need… well, I don't know," he said, turning toward the turian and human couple. "How am I supposed to take that Garrus? Is that good or bad?"

"What? Are you jealous your girlfriend doesn't want to calibrate you?" he said with a slight rumble and an even slighter squeeze to his mate's waist.

"Hey, hey, hey. She didn't say 'want' she said 'necessitate'; obviously my… aim is slightly more accurate than yours."

"Well… she would know. You know, I do remember the day she was introducing her new platform to the crew… And, well… she came down to the battery and offered to help me, ah… calibrate," he rumbled, flaring his mandibles in a mischievous grin.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No one said you could start making calibration jokes. That's my job!"

Shepard laughed as she disentangled herself from Garrus, turning away from the living area and making her way back to the kitchen. She moved towards the sink trying to finish up some dishes left over from this morning; Garrus and EDI made their way over to the living room. Garrus sat back in his chair, activating his omni-tool and queuing up some information on the new mods; EDI took up her post at Joker's side, occasionally throwing in her own remark or joke as the two men continued to toss jabs at each other. After a while, Shepard started rummaging through the refrigerator, trying to put together an idea for dinner. She wasn't all too familiar with drell food; the only drell she'd ever been around for any extensive amount of time was Thane and he had usually taken his food back to life support.

"I probably should have thought about this sooner…" she mumbled to herself, her head still stuck in the fridge.

"Shepard, is there something I can assist you with?" EDI's graceful robotic voice sounded to her left.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe. Do you know what drell eat? I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me until now to figure this out."

"Drell diets consist primarily of smaller aquatic life forms from Kahje and an assortment of local marine flora. It is generally eaten either raw or in the form of a cold soup, as the steam from a hot soup is occasionally seen as offensive, considering the prevalence of Kepral's Syndrome."

"Oh… well, do you know if they can eat seafood from Earth?"

"Local aquatic fare should pose no problem to drell, though the flavors differ dramatically; the sodium content is much higher in Earth's oceans causing the wildlife to take on a 'saltier' taste. I would suggest against using any additional salt."

"Duly noted. Thanks EDI."

"You're welcome, Shepard. Is there anything else I can assist you with?"

Shepard laughed and shook her head, barely resisting the urge to say "that's all for now". She opened the freezer and located some salmon she had purchased the day before and then fished out some lemons from the fridge. She figured a simple baked salmon would work for Emma, Joker, herself, and…

"Wait, EDI, do you have any recipes? Or anything I can go off of…?"

"Do you intend to cook the fish or serve it raw?"

"Umm… probably cook. Unless that doesn't work for drell," she frowned, suddenly wishing that Emma's boyfriend was either human or turian. Her dextro cooking had gotten much better over the years and it would be nice if all the dextro food she purchased actually went to use – she was still in the habit of buying enough for two turians.

"I have located a recipe for a vegetable based soup that many drell enjoy outside of the Khepri System, specifically on human colonized worlds. It consists primarily of leafy greens and some sort of aquatic fare."

"That sounds easy enough… Alright, can you download it to my omni-tool?"

EDI stood up a bit straighter, cocking her hip out as her visor blinked. "Transfer in progress. Complete."

"Thanks, EDI."

"You're welcome, Shepard."

"So, what's for dinner, Commander?" Joker shouted from across the room as EDI made her way back over to the couch.

"Well, since you accepted our invitation so graciously, I figured I would make salmon for us humans."

"Sounds splendid, Commander!" he said, raising his legs a bit so EDI could sit down, before stretching them back out, resting them across her metallic lap.

"It's just a shame that he's not dextro-based," she said absently, setting the lemons on the counter and placing the fish in the fridge to thaw out. _I wonder if I have any kale…_ "It would be nice if all my dextro food actually went to use at some point…"

Garrus's head snapped up from his omni-tool, where he had been studiously reading up on the mods he was attempting to install earlier that day. He hadn't actually expected his daughter to end up dating a turian… but… Well, he hadn't been above hoping – even if the thought of his daughter dating someone so different from her made him more than a little anxious. But, the way that Jane had said "dextro-based" caused a strange feeling to settle in his gut. It was almost like something else was implied. He racked his brain trying to figure out for certain if this boy was human, but couldn't seem to remember any mention of his species. His heart rate picked up a bit, apprehension and confusion fixed on his face.

"What do you mean dextro-based…?" he asked cautiously, subharmonics wavering slightly.

"He's levo-based. I just meant that since I have all this dextro food around the house for you, it would have been convenient if he was turian. Or even quarian. Though… I don't think I have anything appropriate to sterilize it with…" she trailed off, absentmindedly flipping through the information on her omni-tool trying to compile a list of ingredients, completely oblivious to the hulking turian slowly rising from his chair across the room. Joker shrunk back into the couch, not making a peep, carefully watching Garrus as he moved towards the kitchen.

"He's not human?" Garrus growled out lowly, doubt erupting through his subharmonics. _She said levo-based… so, he can't be _turian_. And if he's not human…_

"No, he's a drell."

Garrus felt like the air had been punched out of him, a wave of fear quickly threatening to engulf him. He didn't even like the idea of his daughter dating; he had never even thought of the possibility that it would be some sort of… interspecies thing. With a drell.

"Ooh…this will be fun," Joker muttered in the background, craning his neck to look over at Shepard who still had her nose in her omni-tool. EDI followed his lead, turning her head as well and tilting it to the side.

Jane continued, clearly so focused on dinner plans that she didn't notice her fuming husband who was quickly striding over to the kitchen. "Like I said before, he's a few years older than her and has trained extensively with some drell in combat. I actually thought you would have figured it out earlier, when I had first mentioned that and – Garrus? What's wrong?" she said once she looked up from her omni-tool, eyebrows crinkling in worry.

"Can I speak with you outside, Jane?" he forced out, trying desperately not to alarm her with his rapidly increasing subharmonic trills.

"Yeah, sure." She quickly closed out the recipe and followed him out the front door and past the porch; she assumed that her husband was trying to put some space between this conversation and the prying ears back in their living room.

"Garrus? What's wrong?" she asked, trotting to keep up with him. He slammed to a stop near the end of their drive, whirling on her.

"He's a _drell_?" he growled out; his mandibles were pulled tight to his face and his jaw was grinding together in an attempt to quell his fury. _How can she be okay with this? And why didn't she tell me?! No slimy bastard is going to dare touch my daughter! _My_ daughter!_

"Yes, Garrus… what's wrong with that?"

"I don't want her dating him." That word tasted bad in his mouth – that was not something he wanted his daughter doing. At all. With _him_.

"Wait… why not?"

"He's not human. He's not like her."

She stared at him dumbfounded, trying to figure out how he had an issue with Emma dating outside her species when he was bonded to a human. Was he having second thoughts? Did he actually have an issue with interspecies relationships…? _No, he couldn't and you know that. He married you, mated you. _But, had he just made an exception, because she was Commander Shepard? He'd never expressed any interest in anyone else, so why was he so worried about the interspecies thing?

"But, Garrus… What… What about us?"

"That's different."

"How is it different?" she asked, slightly apprehensive about his response.

"We were adults and both in the military. It's not like we were civilians who actually had a choice. We only had each other – and we knew we could trust each other. She's not old enough to understand how this could affect her – this isn't some casual thing. _Spirits_, Jane! How can you be okay with this!? She's our _daughter_!"

Jane Shepard just looked at her husband with her mouth open, her heart dropping to her stomach; that didn't comfort her at all – in fact, that sounded worse. _Did he regret not having a turian woman to find comfort in? Maybe _he _had wanted something closer to home and she just didn't want to see that. Was it obligation that made him stay?_ Internally, she kept reprimanding herself – she knew Garrus loved her and loved their children; he wouldn't stay out of obligation – but she couldn't stop his words from cutting into her. She had never thought the interspecies thing was an issue with them. They were just Jane Shepard and Garrus Vakarian: two best friends who happened to be different species but still found love in each other during the War. But, now he stood here, seemingly having a clear issue with interspecies liaisons.

She continued to stand there, trying desperately to figure out what he meant; her husband was unrelenting though, evidently unaware of his mate's dejected expression.

"How can you trust someone like _him_ with Emma?" he roared out. How could she not understand? Emma did not need to be dating some assassin that thought his soul wasn't responsible for the lives he'd taken? How can someone like that ever mourn or even love? He couldn't be trusted to care for her, to ever cherish her like she deserved. How could Jane just stand there and let their daughter entrust herself to some twisted alien whose species believes the physical body was separate from the soul? How did that play into morality, into decency?

"Someone like who? A Drell? Or… an alien?" she finally asked.

"Drell, Jane. He's not trustworthy," he replied tersely, though the worry in his mate's voice on that last question caused him to pause and he turned to face her. She was staring back at him, visibly upset; he quirked his brow plates, trying to rein in his anger and he forced all of his attention back to his mate. Was she hurt? She'd seemed fine back in the house – what happened? He glanced over her body and when nothing seemed injured, he ran over the last few minutes of their conversation in his mind, immediately focusing on his statement about civilians. _Spirits, she's worried I don't want her._

"Jane, that's ah… that's not what I meant." He stepped forward, gingerly bringing his hand up to brush over her cheekbone and down the side of her jaw, staring back into her eyes. _There you go, hurting your mate. Keep your anger under control Vakarian! _"Spirits, Jane, that's not what I meant at all." He brushed his finger across her cheek once more before sliding his hand through her hair, pulling her head forward so her forehead pressed against his brow plates. Their eyes met and he could see the hurt he'd caused, his mandibles fluttering in regret. "Jane, you are my mate. I've never wanted anything different," he purred, trying to offer her some reassurance, some comfort.

"Then, Garrus, what do you mean?" she sighed, leaning into his touch unconsciously, ducking her head and resting it on his chest. "Cause right now, that's how it seems; it sounds like you don't want _our _daughter dating anyone outside of her species because you have a problem with… interspecies couplings. I don't understand, Garrus."

_Spirits, _how was he going to explain this to her – without hurting her more?

"Jane, he's not… like her. How can he know how to treat her? He's not… good enough for her. I just don't want her dating a drell. They're _assassins_."

Jane paused, her forehead still resting on Garrus's carapace, and she felt her brow crinkle in confusion. He had emphasized that last word, so maybe… This didn't seem to actually be about a difference in species… it seemed to be solely because Emma's boyfriend was a drell. She thought about this for a moment and started to feel slightly better – before she actually realized that her husband seemed to have a specific issue with drell. That didn't actually make it any better. _Why? _

She pushed away from him a bit, raising her head to look at him; his eyes were shifting back and forth, mandibles twitching in agitation. Jane sighed and pushed her own worry to the back of her mind, focusing on her husband. She tried to think of anything that would appease him – anything that would make him less anxious about it. "Garrus, he's not an assassin. He's just a kid. Besides, Thane was a great guy. Not some coldblooded assassin; I think he's testimony that they aren't all like that," she said, bringing her own hand up to trace his markings.

Garrus scoffed, rolling his eyes at her; hearing the mention of _that_ drell did nothing to soothe him. "Don't bring him into this, Jane," he snapped, his frustration rapidly mounting once again. He pulled away from her grasp and turned to face the other way, trying not to take his anger out on her again. He growled, disentangling his arm from her hand, and walked away from her. _You have no idea what they're like._

"Garrus, I… I still don't understand. He's not going to hurt her…"

Garrus turned and started pacing back and forth, clenching and unclenching his fists, talons cutting into his hands. Jane obviously didn't get it; she seemed perfectly fine with their daughter dating… him. _That's not going to happen. I won't let it._ Why didn't she understand just how dangerous this could be for her? Drell were sly, not to be trusted. And the idea of a drell touching Emma… He roared out, spinning back towards Jane, who looked at him questioningly and raised her hands slightly, in a placating manner.

"Garrus?"

He needed someone to shoot, or someone to spar with, or… something. _Why is it always Drell?_ His thoughts turned to the SR-2, during the fight against the Collectors. The entire crew had thought that Thane was pursuing Shepard – which turned out to be true – but, no one had it pegged that Jane had demonstrated interest in her turian gunnery officer. And Thane had pretty much ignored Garrus's threatening glances and low growls, insisting on trying to court her; he even had a nickname for her – _Siha – _which, despite Garrus agreeing with the meaning, felt much too personal to use if you were only friends – which they were, no matter what Thane had wanted.

Even Mordin had assumed that Thane would be her go to source of comfort, going so far as to give her advice on pursuing a physical relationship with him: 'Oral contact can cause mild hallucinations.' Jane had told him about that awkward conversation the next day, but, even her reassurances that she didn't want something closer to home, couldn't dissuade the images that statement conjured up: Jane, naked and vulnerable in the drell's arms, not able to defend herself from his advances. He would never let his _daughter_ be put in that position – never let anyone hurt her. And if he touched her… or, Spirits forbid, kissed her – Garrus growled, continuing to stalk back and forth across the yard – Emma wouldn't be lucid enough to protect herself. How could Jane be okay with this?

His mate just continued to stand there, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary except for the raging turian, storming back and forth across their yard.

"Garrus?" Jane repeated again. She started towards him, her concern for him quickly pushing away all traces of the previous hurt etched on her face. "Garrus, she's going to be okay. You know I would never let anyone hurt her," she tried again.

The concern that was stamped on her face was directed towards him – not towards his daughter where it should be. How was she not worried? She didn't seem fazed by this at all. And, he's a couple of years older than Emma… He growled again, snapping his jaw shut. _She's only fifteen… not even old enough to join the Alliance…_ He clenched his talons, cutting into his hands a bit more, as he tried to rein his anger in. Could Jane not see how worried he was, how scared he was for their daughter? _Of course not, because her mate is storming around their yard, growling._ He bowed his head, internally reprimanding himself for – inadvertently – allowing his anger to overwhelm him once again.

"Jane, I don't – I just don't want Emma to get hurt… and, ah… I just, don't think he's good enough to… date her." Anger and fear were still warring through his subharmonics, and he tried, in vain, to put a damper on them.

"Can you give him a chance? Garrus, I'm sure that he's a good kid. He's not even interested in military or anything like that – like I said before, he's more interested in history." She reached up and wrapped her hands around his cowl, trying to find the groves in his plates to massage away some tension; he had never acted this rashly about a boyfriend before. He was always uneasy and a bit nervous, which was to be expected, but he had never outwardly said he didn't want Emma dating someone – he only went far enough to intimidate the boys. Was this really all about Emma dating a drell?

Jane nudged against his brow a bit, trying to look up into his eyes, but Garrus couldn't bring himself to hold her gaze. His thoughts kept drifting back to Thane. As much as he knew it wasn't true, he could never quell the irrational fear that he could have lost her to him. _And now Emma is… dating one._

"Garrus? Look at me, please? What's wrong? This can't all be about Emma dating…" she trailed off, gently reaching her hands up to his face, trying to get him to look at her.

He couldn't tell her; he'd never mentioned how much he had… No, envied wasn't the right word – she had never been Thane's so he didn't envy what Thane had. But, that wasn't true either; he did envy Thane for something he had – his person. Thane was levo based, while he was dextro; Thane resembled a human, while he was completely alien in comparison to her. Thane could have offered her something else, something closer to home. And the fear of losing her back then had nearly overwhelmed him. He knew he could never go on if he lost her; that he would lose all will to fight – she was his strength. He ground his eyes shut, trying to force the image of Thane and _his _mate out of his mind; here she was, trying to comfort him, hugging him and stroking his mandibles – after he had hurt her nonetheless – and he was stuck in the past worried about something that never happened. He sighed.

"I'm fine, Jane, I just… I guess I'm just a little, ah… tense right now. I'm sorry. I just don't want… anything to happen to her."

"Okay, just… try to give him a chance? You know I wouldn't ever let anything happen to Emma," she repeated.

His rational mind knew that she wouldn't, but the irrational part… well, that part just kept conjuring up images of Emma with her arms around a green-skinned drell. And that image would morph into Jane wrapping her arms around Thane and Thane's leathery hands reaching down and grasping her around her waist, hoisting her up and spinning her around; Thane's lips finding her throat while one hand cinched at her waist and the other dipped under her shirt, caressing, fondling. Jane's head would fall back, exposing more of her neck to the green alien, a husky moan escaping her throat – _Stop! It never happened. It never will happen._ He shook his head, once again trying to bring his attention back to the present.

He failed, again. Jane had always had a soft spot for Thane; she even kept the box of Rakhana tea she'd bought for him while he was at Huerta Memorial Hospital. She simply said she wanted to have something to remember him by, but he couldn't shake the fear – no matter how unfounded it was; she was his mate – that she wanted something else. He looked down at his mate, worry still etched in her eyes, and he realized she was waiting for a response. He grunted and bent over, wrapping his arms around her waist a bit possessively and nuzzling his brow to her forehead, trying for a semblance of normalcy. He couldn't keep this up; he would drive himself crazy thinking of all the 'ifs' in life.

_Besides, you have more important things to think about. Like how you hurt your mate earlier _– he pulled his arms a bit tighter around her waist and purred out a loving trill – _and how your daughter is over at… that drell's house right now. _He would have to figure out a way to stop this – whatever this was – before it started. He didn't trust this boy. _Well, _he thought, _I guess I can always deal with this myself. But he's not going to date my daughter. Not if I can help it._

* * *

**Thank you for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, especially about Garrus!**


	4. First Impressions

**Thank you to all the readers who read, reviewed, followed, or favorited this story! It gives me so much encouragement when I see that people are enjoying this. And, thank you again, Sereneffect! She always knows exactly what I'm trying to say even when I don't know. I love her! This chapter was a bit difficult to write; the words just didn't want to flow. I introduce a new character towards the end and his characterization took forever to get down. I would really like to know what you guys think about him!**

**Author's note: I refuse to believe that it wasn't possible to destroy the Reapers without sacrificing EDI and the geth. Therefore, in this story, the Reapers were destroyed, but EDI and the geth were not; they are still happily alive and still completely synthetic. The geth are back on Rannoch helping the quarians rebuild and EDI is being her usual awesome self, continuously integrating more aspects of human nature into her coding. **

* * *

They walked back into the house together, Garrus's arm still wound possessively around his mate's waist, trying to ignore the questioning gazes of Joker and EDI, who were both perched on the edge of the couch; Jane simply ended up giving Joker her 'Your Commander says drop it' look and Joker promptly redirected his eyes. Jane reached up to her husband and kissed his unscarred mandible, giving him one more pleading look and a light squeeze to his hand before she wandered back over to the kitchen, returning to her dinner plans. Garrus huffed over to the living room and started reading up on his mods again – anything to try to divert his thoughts away from Thane. He'd have to find some way to make this all up to Jane later; rationally, he knew that she only wanted him. She'd had her pick of men – she could have had anyone she wanted, human or otherwise – but she had chosen him; and, she had never given him any indication that she wanted anything different – or wanted Thane to be more specific. She shouldn't have to deal with his suspicion, especially when it wasn't warranted; she treated him far too well for him to act like that.

"So… Emma's dating?" Joker started, breaking Garrus out of his thoughts. Bringing his hands up to rest against the back of his head, the pilot cast a sideways glance towards Garrus, arching his eyebrows under his hat.

Garrus grunted, not taking his eyes off his omni-tool.

"I'm guessing you aren't too thrilled…"

Another grunt.

Joker laughed and continued, taking Garrus's grunts as agreement. "Well, I was thinking," he said, dropping his voice a bit lower to try to keep his next comment out of Jane's hearing range. "I've known you for a while and I know how you operate. There are a few stories that I recall in particular… most of which involve you putting a bullet through someone's eyes…"

"What? Are you suggesting I just shoot him? Cause as appealing as that sounds, I'm not sure my mate or daughter would take too kindly to that…"

"No, but you could… enlighten him to your… methods." Joker responded, leaning forward and raising his eyebrows. EDI glanced at him, cocking her head once again.

"Jeff, are you implying that a scare tactic would successfully thwart this drell's attempt to court General Vakarian's daughter?" Joker scoffed and bowed his head, shaking it; Garrus failed to control a growl that erupted from his chest. _Leave it to her to bluntly state the obvious, _Joker thought as he glanced over to the kitchen to make sure Jane hadn't heard that last comment; the Admiral seemed totally immersed in her cooking though, her head buried in her omni-tool while she rummaged blindly through the cabinets.

"Uh… yeah, EDI, this is… uh, a father and uncle thing. Jane might need some help… you want to, you know, go help her?"

"Very well, Jeff," EDI replied, seemingly satisfied by his explanation; she got up and headed over to the kitchen where she proceeded to locate the spice Jane had been searching for. Joker and Garrus could only hope that she didn't mention this conversation to Jane. Once EDI was safely out of range of their conversation and Joker was satisfied that she was busily helping Jane, he continued.

"So… what do you think? I'd be happy to help elaborate on some of your… adventures. You know, just compare stories?" Joker said quietly, looking at the turian across from him.

"I think… we haven't had a good competition in quite some while."

* * *

Emma called a couple hours later; she was coming home a bit before the drell – his name was Sojat – came over for dinner. Joker was resting his head on EDI's shoulder, his eyelids flickering in his dreams while her visor blinked, probably categorizing new information; they had been watching old vids from Earth before Joker had fallen asleep on her shoulder – vids with a guy in a suit who seemed to blow stuff up with a lot of random objects like a writing utensil or a watch – and Garrus had excused himself, making his way back over to the kitchen to work on his mods once again – reading could only go so far before one had to manually attempt to figure out modifications. In reality he was trying to give the two of them a little privacy; he knew how being on duty constantly could take its toll on a relationship; he was simply lucky that his mate was the captain – not to mention a Spectre so Alliance regs couldn't really thwart them – and had her own quarters. Privacy wasn't as big of an issue to them as it could have been – as it probably was for an Alliance pilot and a Cerberus synthetic. But Joker and EDI had always found a way to make it work; it wasn't conventional by any means, but, then again, neither were human and turian couples. And it made Jane happy to see the two of them together so whenever they visited, she and Garrus tried to give them the most of what time they had together, even if it was just a few hours of them resting on the couch.

Jane was currently sitting across from her husband, messing with her Disciple - an anniversary gift from Liara. "You know, I still think Conrad Verner had a point. I miss the days where I could just pop in two heat sinks and my Sokolov would cool down before I could even get the next shot off… _I_ never had to worry about overheating…" Jane grumbled lowly, trying to attach the spare thermal clip mod. "Seriously, what was the point in switching to thermal clips – universally! As long as you can properly mod your weapon, there's no point in not using ammo blocks…"

Garrus chuckled as he continued to fiddle with his rifle. "Jane, only you utilized shotguns like you did. No one else ever tried to use them as…ahem, gracefully" – he flared his mandibles in a sarcastic smirk – "as you." He remembered all the times that she would simply charge into a small bunker filled to the brim with mercs and simply start stalking one across the room, seeing how far she could propel him with her shots; she was always either totally oblivious to the rest of the angry mercenaries, trusted him enough to watch her six, or simply didn't care if they got a hit or two on her. He was inclined to believe the latter – ever since she had found the Colossus Armor, she really seemed to start taking her existence for granted.

"Well, what else was I supposed to do? There was never a good place to snipe from and the pistols took too long to bring anyone down… Do you remember how many krogan were always crammed in those bases? A pistol wasn't going to help at all."

"I always found a place to snipe from… Besides, even Wrex was more cautious than you – he would at least stay in cover while his Avalanche cooled down," Garrus scolded, glancing up at her through his visor. She returned his grin with her own, gently nudging his leg with her foot before returning her attention to her shotgun.

Jane grumbled again, sighing in frustration. "Well, I'm giving up on this. I hate these new mods," she grumbled, pushing the shotgun and mod away from her. "Besides, I need to go get ready. Let me know when she's home?" She stood up from the table and walked over to his side, bending down to kiss him.

"Of course, I'll come get you when she gets back."

As soon as she rounded the corner to the stairs, Garrus pushed his Widow aside and focused his attention on Jane's Disciple, trying to figure out what was giving her so much trouble – she knew how to mod a gun better than most people. The edge of the spare clip kept snagging on the gun so it wouldn't fit properly. _If I just file that down a bit, I should be able to have it done by the time she's finished getting ready… _He was just standing up to go grab his tools when he heard a skycar pull up outside; he stopped in his tracks, pushing all other thoughts out of his head, and sat back down, waiting to watch as Emma rounded the corner, trotting in through the back door.

"Hey, Dad," she said, making her way through the kitchen with her bag over her shoulder. Garrus looked up at her, appraising his daughter. _She seems to be unharmed at least… and she doesn't have… his smell on her. _He cringed inwardly at the thought.

"How was lunch?" he asked tightly, trying not to alert his daughter to the slight rumbling growl in his chest.

"Good. His mom is a great cook. She actually knows what barbeque is," she replied idly, dropping her bag in a chair at the table. She walked over to her dad and gave him a quick hug before going back to the kitchen to stick her head in the fridge.

"That's good." His eyes followed her over to the kitchen. He didn't have to keep up the charade of normalcy for long though, as EDI moved from her spot on the couch to come over, strolling into the kitchen.

"Emma, it is nice to see you."

"EDI?! I didn't know you were here! I've missed you!" she said, slamming the refrigerator door shut and running over to throw her arms around the Cerberus synthetic, who readily hugged her back. "Is Joker here?" she peered around the woman's body, trying to locate her uncle.

Joker waved one hand sleepily at her from his commandeered spot on the couch, as the other hand wiped at his sleep ridden eyes.

"Joker!" Emma squealed, running over to the couch to tackle her uncle, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Woah, careful there. You don't want a repeat of last time do you?"

"No," she ducked her head in chagrin; last time Joker and EDI had visited, she'd successfully broken Joker's collarbone by hugging him. He still claimed he wasn't so mad about the break – he was used to them at this point; apparently what really irked him was he had to let his _girlfriend_ fly the _Normandy _for the next week or so. "Sorry, Joker."

"Ah… it's fine. I'll take a break or two if it means I get a hug from my favorite niece," he said, wincing as he pulled his arms back from her.

She grinned up at him and then plopped down next to him on the couch, immediately drilling him on the _Normandy'_s latest missions. EDI followed her over and sat down across from them, watching their interaction with a tilted head. While Emma was preoccupied with her uncle and aunt, Garrus stood up from the table once again and started to head upstairs to tell Jane their daughter was home, before he realized that his mate's bra was still resting on top of the refrigerator. He glanced over to the living room, checking to make sure everyone was preoccupied, before reaching up and grabbing it, stuffing it underneath his arm; he turned and checked the couch again – everyone still seemed oblivious – and then he headed upstairs.

"Jane?" he called, rounding the corner to their bedroom.

"In here."

He tossed her bra on their bed and then walked into their bathroom, where Jane was getting dressed. Coming up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, inhaling deeply as her hair fell in his face; her scent helped him relax a little but it also caused a possessive growl to vibrate through his body. _Mine. My mate._ Garrus screwed his eyes shut, trying to force back the territorial and protective feelings circulating inside him – they were warrantless, but that didn't make them any less true; and, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't quite quell the nagging concern for his family – concern which was probably not necessary or sensible.

Jane bent her head back, feeling the vibrations of his growls against her back, resting the side of her head against his cheek and reaching behind him to stroke the back of his fringe. He seemed to relax after a few moments, burying his face deeper into her hair, yet the worried growl was still rumbling through him. She would gladly let him hold her if it made him feel better. Besides, it was moments like these that she lived for; just him, doing something as simple as hugging her while she was getting dressed.

"Hey," she said after a few moments, bringing her hands back down to rest on top of his, which were wrapped lovingly over her stomach.

"Your daughter is home. I think she broke Joker's collarbone again," he mumbled; his face was still pressed into the side of her neck hoping that either her hair would muffle the sound of his growls or she would assume he was just rumbling contentedly.

"That wouldn't be surprising," she laughed. He hummed a short response and wrapped his arms farther around her. Jane turned around in his arms to look at him, reaching up and stroking his mandibles. "Are you okay, Garrus? After… earlier?"

"Yes," he sighed, dipping his head to bump foreheads with her. "I'm just… worried about her. She's, ah… so much like you and I worry she's going to get herself in trouble." Jane smiled, letting out a small laugh.

"She'll be okay, Garrus. Besides, with you, Joker, EDI and myself here, I doubt an 17 year old drell could do much damage."

Garrus hummed in response once again, but his thoughts wandered: _You'd be surprised… Plus, it's not tonight that has me worried…_

"And anyway… I'm sure we could think of some ways to ease your… tension later." She stood up on her tiptoes and lightly nipped the underside of his mandible drawing a surprised hiss from him.

"Mm… I can definitely see the, ah… benefit of that," he rumbled in response, moving his hands to the side to squeeze her waist a bit tighter. "Though… not now. I doubt our guests would appreciate the, ah… sounds you make quite as much as I do…"

"Hmm… that may be true. And, if so, you better not continue on your current path if you expect me to keep quiet," she said as his hands started to travel down her back, talons grazing her lower back and the top of her pants. She reached around to her back, unclasping his hands and bringing them around to her front. "Go on downstairs and talk to your daughter. I'll be down in a bit. And don't worry," she added, seeing his mandibles drop a bit in disappointment, "we'll finish this later." She reached up and lightly kissed his mouth plates before turning back around.

* * *

Garrus had excused himself from the house a bit before Sojat was supposed to come over, deciding instead to go sit out on the porch and clean his Widow. All the work with the mods had caused some grease to accumulate in the mechanism which needed to be cleared out immediately – or, at least, that was what he had told Jane. He was just about to put the mechanism back in place when the sound of a skycar grabbed his attention. It stopped at the end of their drive and a thin, unassuming, green skinned drell jumped down from the side door. He turned and waved to someone in the driver's seat – maybe his mother or father – and then proceeded to make his way up the drive.

Garrus continued reassembling his rifle, casually reclining in the chair, while constantly keeping one eye focused on the drell walking up their drive.

"Uh… General Vakarian?" the kid asked in a low raspy voice.

"Who's asking?" Garrus replied, finally clicking the mechanism back into place and raised the rifle to his eye, glancing through the scope.

He looked over the top of the rifle and watched as the boy's eyes went wide; his visor immediately started relaying the best tactical advantages for taking out a drell while picking up the spike in the boy's heart rate. A self-satisfied flicker of his mandibles escaped Garrus's careful control. His intimidation tactics were cut short though, as his daughter came bursting out of the house.

"Dad! What are you doing?" Emma yelled, quickly passing by her father and jogging to stand by Sojat. "Hey," she said, reaching over and giving him a quick hug, which, he did not return. "Sorry about my dad," – she gave her father a stern look – "he's a little… extreme."

"Hm." The drell's response was short and clipped. He was still staring at the turian, wide eyed and more than a little uneasy. Emma held her hand out to him and Sojat apprehensively stared at it, before looking back to her father, then back down to her hand again. Garrus just stared at him, almost challenging him to touch his daughter. Emma looked over to her dad, jutting out her chin and giving her dad a meaningful look; huffing at her dad, she finally reached over and just grabbed Sojat's hand, who promptly looked at her like she was crazy. She rolled her eyes while her father's mandibles flared out, twitching in agitation. _Boys, _she thought.

"Dad, this is Sojat. And this is my father: Garrus."

"General Vakarian, Sir." Sojat apprehensively held out his free hand to the turian in front of him. Garrus grunted and slowly stood up, his frame towering over the small Drell, switching his Widow to one hand; he reached out, throwing his shoulders back, to grip the boy's hand briefly before letting go and turning to walk inside, motioning with his Widow for them to follow him.

"He's really not that bad… once, you know, you get used to him," Emma said, squeezing Sojat's hand a bit and pulling him forward, leading him inside. "Besides, my mom won't let him do anything too crazy."

"Yes, because the famous Admiral Shepard is remembered for her mercy and sympathy…" he mumbled, ducking his head down to whisper in her ear.

Emma giggled. "I promise, they aren't that bad. Just a little… protective."

"Mm hmm," Sojat said, glancing around the room as they walked in the door. His eyes immediately landed on the array of weapon mods still lying on the counter; Admiral Shepard stood on the other side of the bar, with Garrus on her six. His arms were crossed and he leveled a glare at Sojat as he and Emma slowly made their way towards the kitchen, almost like he was daring him to come any closer to Emma's mother. The Admiral, though, was smiling warmly at him and she quickly put down whatever she was stirring to come around the bar.

"Mom, this is Sojat; Sojat, this is my mom: Jane."

"Sojat, it's so nice to meet you!"

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Admiral."

"Please, no one calls me that. It's Jane." Garrus eyes noticeably narrowed, his mandibles twitching in irritation – again, almost like he was trying to goad him into trying it. _Well great… who to piss off more: Admiral Shepard or her turian husband?_

"Jane," he said, reaching out and shaking her hand. He briefly contemplated whether he should call her Mrs. Vakarian, but ultimately decided against it; having Jane Shepard on his side couldn't make anything worse and if she wanted to be called "Jane" he would do so – even if every bit of etiquette his father had ever drilled into him screamed for him to be more respectful. Garrus seemed to have a similar thought as he quirked a brow plate, a low rumbling sound coming from his chest which carried a heavy warning in it. Sojat quickly dropped her hand and almost just as fast, flinched at his rudeness and looked up to Emma's mother's face, hoping he hadn't offended her. _This night is starting off great…_ Jane just smiled though, and if she noticed his hesitation and quick release, it didn't show in her face.

"Come on in, you are more than welcome to take a seat anywhere. Can I offer you something to drink?"

"I would appreciate a glass of water."

"Of course." She walked over to the cabinet by the refrigerator, bypassing her husband who was still staring at Sojat like he was thoroughly unwelcome in their home, and retrieved a glass for him, filling it up from the tap. "Here you go," she said, handing him the glass. Sojat accepted it and nodded his head in a slight bow of thanks. Luckily, Garrus seemed too preoccupied with watching Jane and the drell's hands that he missed the slight dip of the boy's head; Jane, however, caught it and her eyebrows arched up briefly. _Thane used to do that…_

She shook her head, trying to deter her thoughts. "I prepared a vegetable and fish soup for you. Is that okay? I wasn't quite sure what you would want to eat, so EDI gave me some ideas."

Sojat shifted his brows slightly, wondering who this "Eee-Dee" person was – maybe a VI program installed in their house? – but shook it off and simply nodded. "Of course, that sounds wonderful."

"Okay, good. I'm not used to cooking for drell, so I really didn't know what direction to go in," Jane smiled, relieved that he seemed fine with her choice.

"I'm sure anything you have prepared will be pleasing," he said, once again, bowing his head in such a manner that, if you glanced quickly at him, he almost looked like a younger version of Thane. Garrus didn't miss the bow this time and the low rumble from before morphed into a threatening growl; Jane and Emma both looked at him – Jane with a very stern look that said 'Stop it' and Emma with a simple eye roll. Garrus quickly clamped his mandibles hard against his jaw, trying to stifle the growl. Sojat just looked around, trying to figure out what was going on; her father obviously wasn't fond of him, but he couldn't figure out why Vakarian was choosing to voice his displeasure when he was trying so hard to be respectful of Vakarian's family.

Jane recovered quickly though, tossing another warm smile to the young drell, ushering him and Emma to the table. "Alright, everything is ready, so you two go ahead and have a seat. Garrus, can you go grab EDI and Joker? I'm sure he could use some real food at least once on his leave," Jane said as she turned around to finish getting the salmon out of the oven and her husband's dextro meal from the refrigerator. Emma grabbed Sojat's hand and pulled him to the far side of the table, making sure she situated herself between Sojat and her father's normal spot at the table.

"Your father does not seem to like me," Sojat said quietly as they sat down at the table. Garrus watched as the two of them made their way to the table, before slowly leaving the room, though, not before throwing the young drell a warning glance

"He's just being… protective. I promise, he'll warm up – just be patient. Besides, my aunt and uncle are here so that should help keep him in line." Sojat made a noncommittal sound, still warily shifting his gaze around the room. Emma entwined their fingers underneath the table, giving his hand a light squeeze, and Sojat turned back to her, trying to smile. It came out weak though, his thoughts still on her father.

He sighed slightly, and turned around to watch Emma's mother gather up some glasses and drinks from the refrigerator. She poured herself a glass of wine and grabbed a levo beer from the fridge, popping the top and setting in on the counter; she then retrieved a dextro beer and walked over, putting it down in front of a seat on the other side of Emma; he assumed – hoped – that the dextro beer was for Emma's father. He didn't think he could deal with two turians tonight. Jane returned to the kitchen, grabbing a pitcher of water, and then wandered back over to the table. He watched as she leaned down to refill his glass, but was startled when she nudged him slightly in his arm; he quickly looked over at Emma for some guidance, but ultimately just ended up glancing at her mother with a questioning gaze. Humans were strange. They all seemed to take physical contact with others very lightly – though, mostly within the confines of their own species. Emma never seemed to have any issue with him being any other species, and she treated him like he was simply a person, hugs and hand-holds included. He had warmed up quickly to the feeling of holding hands – it was a surprisingly intimate gesture that warmed his gut. But even as much as he loved her touch – whether she put her arm around his waist or just bumped him with her hip – he was still shocked by the casualness of it; she never hesitated to grab his hand, even in public, where anyone could see. Generally speaking, his species still wasn't as trusted as the other council races, so drell-human couples were still very rare. But, then again, turian-human couples were also uncommon so maybe it wasn't just an Emma thing; maybe it was simply a "Shepard" thing.

Jane's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Don't mind my husband. He's just slightly protective of the family. Just ignore him if he gets too… intimidating. He won't bite, I promise; he just wants you to think he will." She winked at him slightly and he nodded in response, failing to suppress the slight smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth; Jane then looked over to her daughter, who gave her mother a grateful smile. Jane grinned back at her daughter before turning around and starting to fill up the rest of the glasses situated around the table. "Just be glad her brother isn't here; he's just as hotheaded as his father," she said, raising her eyebrows and nodding at the two of them.

Emma laughed. "See, I told you it would be fine. I promise; he's just being all… fathery. Just be yourself, he'll warm up to you," Emma whispered letting go of his hand and leaning into him a bit, squeezing his arm.

Sojat nodded, moving his hand to rest on her thigh, his gaze still locked on to Emma's mother. It wasn't often that one was given the opportunity to have dinner in the home of Admiral Shepard; even rarer was the opportunity to date her daughter. And Jane seemed perfectly as ease with a drell in her house; she also seemed perfectly fine that he was dating her daughter. So, was it really just a father thing or was there something else going on? He was still watching her fiddle with the fish when Vakarian marched back in the room from the back door, followed closely by a limping human with a scruffy face and a… mech? The woman was clearly synthetic yet she seemed to be… holding the limping human's hand? She was also holding it in a way that spoke of intimacy, certainly not in a professional sense – she definitely didn't seem to be a personal assistance mech. That was… unique. Then again, this family didn't seem to be too normal in any sense: one human-turian couple, one human-drell couple, and now a human-synthetic couple – the last couple he assumed were the aunt and uncle Emma had mentioned. Emma's father strode over to the kitchen, stopping to dip his brow down to Jane's forehead, which she seemed to return without hesitation; that was definitely a solely turian gesture of commitment and the way she seemed so familiar and at ease with it… that spoke wonders of her commitment. Humans were remarkably strange.

Vakarian continued on his path, making his way behind Jane and over to the table, his gaze locking onto the drell sitting next to his daughter. Sojat quickly removed his hand from where it were resting on Emma's knee and brought both of them up from underneath the table, twining his fingers together and folding them respectfully in front of himself on the table. Garrus quirked a brow at his sudden movement and Emma rolled her eyes – not at either of them in particular, but simply at the situation in general.

"Dad, could we go to the range sometime soon? I want to practice a bit more with moving targets," Emma said, trying to distract her father, whose gaze was still locked on to the drell sitting next to her.

Garrus grunted and nodded slightly, before turning away from his daughter's date; he grabbed his beer from his usual spot and walked over to the other side of the table, taking a seat in Gaius's typical chair – which was situated directly across from Sojat.

"That would be great, Emma. A little extra practice couldn't hurt. You never know who's going to be lurking about…" He turned his gaze pointedly back to the drell, who shrank back slightly, trying desperately not to flinch.

Sojat decided that this table was feeling much too crowded – or much less crowded than it should be; he couldn't really tell. Emma placed a hand on his knee and squeezed lightly before continuing her conversation with her father. He could tell Emma was trying to distract and placate her father – something he was very thankful for. In all honesty, if he didn't care so much for Emma, he would have bailed before he even made it into their house; simply the knowledge that Admiral Shepard and General Vakarian, heroes of the Reaper War, were her parents was intimidating enough. As Emma and her father continued talking, Sojat focused his attention on the kitchen, trying to drown out the nearly inaudible growls coming from across the table; the limping human male was busy peering over Jane's shoulder, trying to steal a bite of food. Emma's mother swatted at his hand once, trying to deter his wandering fingers.

"Are you trying to break my arm Commander!?" the human yelled, wrenching his hand back and gaping at her in horror. Once again, Sojat shifted is brow in confusion; the gentle slap didn't seem to have been given with any great amount of force. But, the man was also limping when he walked, so, maybe Emma's uncle was recovering from an injury? Emma had never mentioned what her uncle did, but since she came from a military family, an injury would make sense.

Jane simply smiled and said, "Well, then stop trying to steal food. I'll have it on the table in no time! Now go sit down," she turned and lightly shooed the human back towards the table, thrusting the levo beer in his hand, before turning to her husband. "Your beer is already at your spot" – she paused, taking in the sight of her husband staring across the table at the drell, his beer already in his taloned hand – "though… it looks like you found a new spot… Oh well, just…" she trailed off. _I'm going to have to find a way to keep him in line. Maybe EDI could help…_ She looked over at EDI who was standing next to the corner of the counter with her hands clasped behind her back, observing Joker as he walked over to the table, introducing himself to Sojat. Jane had gotten in the habit of offering EDI something to drink, simply feeling rude that the woman didn't have anything to do at the dinner table – even if it served no purpose other than to give her something to hold; she had been in the same awkward position plenty of times, where she had already eaten, and was simply sitting at a table, watching others eat with nothing to do.

"EDI would you like anything?" she asked, already heading towards the liquor cabinet; she had hunch she could predict what EDI would ask for. She was just reaching for the gin when EDI's reply stopped her in her tracks.

"I would appreciate a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred."

Jane laughed. "Is that what you guys were watching?"

"Jeff recently stated that I should become familiar with old earth 'classics'," she said, standing a bit straighter and stretching out her shoulders. Jane smiled and nodded, reaching instead for the vodka and vermouth, and fixing EDI her drink, complete with a lemon slice. EDI extended her hand gracefully and retrieved the glass from Jane. Jane then grabbed her own glass of wine and the two of them turned, walking over to the table for what Jane sincerely hoped – yet doubted – would be the start of an uneventful and relaxing dinner.

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**What did you think? Did you like Sojat? What about Garrus as an overly protective father?**


	5. Dinner Etiquette

**Chapter 4 is finally finished! I'm so sorry for the ridiculously long wait. My writer's block was fighting me tooth and nail on this chapter, but I kept fighting back and finally beat it! And, since I successfully defeated my writer's block, I'm already working of Chapter 5 of Fathers and Daughters, as well as Chapters 3 and 4 of Rematch! Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, or reviewed this story since the last time I updated it. I really appreciate it! And, a huge thank you to Sereneffect for catching all my spelling errors! She really is the best and I'm so thankful I have her to beta my stories!**

**Author's note as of 6/4/2013: When I began writing chapter 5 of Fathers and Daughters, I realized there was a lot I wanted to add to Garrus and Jane's conversation. Because there was so much I wanted to expand on, I decided to revise this chapter a little bit and write an addendum, which will be posted later this week. For those of you that have already read this chapter and are reading it again, you will notice that the last two paragraphs are different than in the original chapter and that the conversation between Garrus and Jane has been completely removed. That conversation has been hugely expanded on and I will post that chapter later this week. For those of you that haven't read this chapter yet, don't worry about this and just keep on reading!**

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Jane brought over the platter of salmon and set it down in the middle of the table, comfortably nestled in between a huge bowl of mashed potatoes and a tray of roasted asparagus – she always made larger portions whenever Joker and EDI visited; Joker seemed to have an endless pit for a stomach, especially on shore leave. She returned to the kitchen, grabbing Sojat's soup, her husband's meal, and a large basket of bread; she handed Garrus and Sojat their respective food, before she moved over to her own chair, popping the basket of bread down in front of her. Sojat was in the middle of bowing his head again in thanks, but stopped mid-motion as he remembered the way Emma's father had growled at him last time. Garrus was sitting directly across from the young drell, rarely taking his eyes off Emma's date. Joker had carefully plopped himself down next to Emma – taking Garrus's normal spot for the night. EDI was sitting across from him, her legs elegantly crossed while she swirled her martini. After ensuring that everyone had enough to drink for the meal, Jane shimmied in next to her husband. She was sincerely hoping that she'd be able to derail him if he started anything with Emma's boyfriend – though, she had never been too successful in the past; when her mate wanted something, he usually got it, one way or another.

"So, how was lunch today? I hear your mother knows how to cook barbeque – and, please, don't wait for us, go ahead and eat," Jane said, dishing herself some salmon and veggies and nodding towards Sojat's soup that he'd left, purposely untouched, in front of him. Emma patted him discretely on the thigh as the drell picked up his spoon, dipping it into the cold broth; Emma reached over to take the serving spoon for the potatoes, but Joker interrupted her, batting her hand away.

"Hey, hey, hey, cripples first!" he said, grabbing the spoon away from her questing hand and scooping himself a massive portion of potatoes. Emma and her mother shared a look, before rolling their eyes. Emma glanced inquiringly at Sojat, after she'd served herself a slice of salmon. The drell put his spoon down, after taking a small sip of soup, and returned his hands respectfully to his lap before answering.

"Yes, my mother learned a few human cuisines when we moved to Earth. She simply wanted to make sure she would be prepared for any guests that may come to stay," he explained, looking at Emma's mother. "It is obvious you yourself are rather gifted with other species' foods as well," he said as he glanced towards Vakarian's plate as well as his own.

Jane smiled brightly as she took a bite of the salmon. "Well, I honestly had no idea what to make for you. I've never spend a great deal of time around drell – the only one I've ever really known, served with me for just a few months before we went our separate ways; we definitely never got on the topic of food," she said as she glanced over at Sojat's soup. "Plus, I'm not so sure this actually qualifies as 'drell cuisine'; it's a drell recipe, but, it doesn't actually have anything from Kahje in it…"

"It is very satisfying," Sojat replied, taking another sip of his soup and pausing before asking Jane a question. "This drell? He served on an Alliance ship?"

Joker laughed sarcastically between bites and muttered, "It's weirder than that…"

"Well, ah… not exactly," Jane replied to Sojat, a nervous undertone lacing her words. The drell cocked his head to the side a bit, trying to figure out why Emma's mother seemed to be embarrassed about this story. She continued though, before he really had a chance to think too far on the matter.

"This might be a little heavy for dinner conversation…"

Sojat laughed, a low and slightly raspy sound, which Garrus narrowed his eyes at. "My father is a Spectre. I assure you, our conversations are just as… inappropriate for the dinner table. In any case, if what I have heard from Emma is accurate, my father's tales aren't quite as… enthralling as your own."

Jane turned to her daughter, her face questioning. "You've been telling him stories?"

"Just a few. About how you and Dad met, mainly," Emma said quietly, looking up at her mom. Jane and Garrus were both very private people – always had been – but, after all the unwanted exposure Shepard got during the Reaper war, Emma's mother tried to keep her personal life very isolated, her marriage to Garrus included. Emma really hadn't told Sojat much, just a few stories about how her mom had originally snatched her dad up from C-sec and how they had later rejoined forces to take down the Reapers; she hadn't given away any truly delicate information, but she was still worried that her mother was upset. She was about to apologize, but Sojat beat her to the punch; he seemed to sense Emma's discomfort and nervousness, so he jumped into the conversation, hoping to explain things to her mother.

"I apologize; it was not my place to inquire about your life without your blessing. Emma only indulged me because I asked. I was very curious. It's not often that you meet a turian-human couple, especially a couple who has raised two children together. I hope my interest hasn't caused any disrespect."

"No, not at all, there's no need to apologize," Jane said vehemently as Garrus grunted from his spot next to her. "We just aren't used to telling any of our stories – we don't want the public to know the details of them and most of our friends already know all of the stories because they lived through them with us. And, about my husband and myself…" she said as she glanced over to her left, placing her hand on her husband's leg and meeting Garrus's eyes briefly, one of which was still obscured behind his visor; he had momentarily taken his eyes off the drell and was gazing down at Jane, his mandibles flaring outwardly in a small smile. "I think we are definitely one of the few to try it, but… it works for us."

"Come on, now!" Joker said, faking a gag into his napkin. "Again, if I have to deal with it on the ship, I shouldn't have to deal with it at the table in your house!" He flinched after a moment, and a brief look of pain passed over his face before he contorted his expression into one of mock fury. Sojat guessed, as he noted the slight movement of Jane's torso, that Emma's mother had kicked the man lightly underneath the table. "And stop trying to break the cripple! You'll have to find a new pilot for Vega!" Joker said, waving a threatening finger at Jane. _He was the pilot for her ship? I thought… maybe 'uncle' is just a moniker._

"I'm sure Captain Vega would accept my offer to pilot the _Normandy _in your absence, Jeff, as I do have extensive knowledge of the _Normandy_'s layout and the weapons systems. And, also, I do believe Jane mentioned earlier how this was 'her house', indicating that she is allowed to behave as she sees accordingly."

"See, Joker? Your girlfriend agrees with me," Jane said, returning her attention briefly to her plate before looking back over to Joker with a smirk planted on her face.

"Garrus… little help here, man?" the pilot turned his head and glanced over to Garrus, who had remained relatively quiet up to this point.

"Go easy on Joker, Jane… we wouldn't want a mutiny on our hands. And, anyway, I believe you were telling our _guest_" – he ground the word out a bit harshly – "about how a drell ended up serving under you," he said, quickly returning his attention to the drell sitting in front of him. Garrus knew that Jane would try to "keep him in line" as she had indicated by a few very subtle, but firm, glances. But… this opportunity could work to his advantage, even if he had no desire to talk about _that _drell. If Jane ended up telling the complete story of how… _Thane _– he sneered the word in his head – came to serve on the _Normandy_, she would have to mention recruiting Archangel… which he could use to his advantage. Majority of the galaxy was still under the impression Archangel had been killed 19 years ago and this drell was mostly likely among that grouping; none of Emma's previous boyfriends had known her father was the infamous vigilante and Garrus had used that to his benefit before. And, unless his daughter had mentioned something – which he doubted, considering how much she understood her parent's desire for privacy – he had the perfect story in mind to… enlighten the drell, as Joker so eloquently put it.

As Vakarian returned his gaze to Sojat, the young drell's eyes widened slightly; he was surprised Emma's father seemed interested in continuing any conversation that included him. Sojat quickly turned back to Emma's mother, though, when the turian's eyes narrowed a bit more, some information flickering across his visor; Sojat knew visors like Vakarian's monitored biological signs and he had a sneaky suspicion that Emma's dad was keeping close tabs on his heart rate. Trying to shake that unnerving thought from his head, he turned his attention to Jane instead.

"Was it a Spectre requisition ship?" Sojat asked.

"Actually… Cerberus."

Sojat started and set his spoon down so he could focus on Emma's mother. "The human supremacist group that aligned themselves with the Reapers, and were, subsequently, 'dissolved' after the Reaper War?"

"Yep, that's the one. Not one of my finer moments, but, something that was necessary at the time."

"I find it hard to believe that _you _would ever align yourself with a group such as that, considering your adamant statements on how humanity needed to do its part for the galaxy and how you, yourself, believe that humanity is no better than any other species." Sojat tried to wrap his head around this fact; what could have driven Emma's mother – a human who was mated to a turian – to align herself with an anti-alien terrorist organization?

"Yeah… Emma, how much have you told him?" Jane asked, taking a sip of her wine and leaning back in her chair slightly, observing her daughter and her boyfriend.

"Actually, nothing about that time, Mom, honestly. I really just told him about how you first met Dad, and then about how you teamed up with him again during the Reaper War," Emma said, sharing a look with her mother, before returning her fork to her potatoes.

"Well… seeing as how everyone else at this table knows the grisly details of this story – and assuming you truly don't mind some rather disturbing… imagery – I don't see the point of not telling you." She looked to Sojat pointedly, who nodded towards her in agreement. "Alright, just… don't go sharing all these stories with just anyone. Most are common knowledge, but… some of the more minor details aren't widely known or accepted." The drell nodded his head once again in Jane's direction, before returning his own attention back to the soup in front of him – it truly was very good and he had been pleasantly surprised Emma's mother had thought to cook him something that was more similar to his own culture's food, rather than just expecting he ate typical Earth cuisines. He was dipping his spoon back into the bowl when Jane started talking, simply content to listen to her stories at this point. Everyone else was busily munching on their meal as well; EDI was casually observing the table's occupants, though, the majority of her attention was focused on Joker.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard about the 'geth' attack on the Citadel a few years before the Reaper War?" Jane started.

"Yes, though, I was under the impression that was actually a Reaper," Sojat said, while nodding in answer to her question.

"Yes, it was. That was Sovereign. He was the first of the wave. Well, after that, the Council sent me out to clean up the rest of the geth scattered throughout the galaxy, since they viewed them as the real threat. Well, we were clearing out a pocket in the Omega Nebula when our ship was attacked. We didn't know by who at the time, but the Collectors – the species from beyond the Omega-4 Relay – were the ones who attacked us."

"But… I though the Omega-4 Relay led into the galactic core, that no ship had ever successfully passed through the relay and returned? How were the Collectors able to accomplish that, and without our knowledge?"

"Well, that was a question for us as well, until we stole a Reaper IFF from a derelict Reaper that had been killed over 37 million years ago, and was still floating in the gravitational orbit of a planet."

"A Reaper IFF… from a dead Reaper?" This story was already infinitely more fascinating than his father's typical tales of rogue politicians and illicit gang activity.

"Yes, the Reaper IFF successfully allowed us to navigate through the Omega-4 Relay," EDI piped in, gently swirling the lemon slice around in her martini glass.

"Only because the best pilot in the Alliance and his trusty, unshackled AI were piloting the ship through the relay," Joker replied.

"Jeff, I do not believe that we directly caused the Admiral's success. Without the proper upgrades, the _Normandy_ would not have survived the assault on the Collector home world."

"You both helped. In fact, I'm pretty sure I remember Joker taking up arms towards the end of the mission – didn't you fracture all but one of your ribs doing that?"

"Anything for my Commander," he said, and Jane smiled at him before continuing.

"I don't remember that being your response when I was trying to save your life! Anyway, we've gotten way off track… You have to hear the whole story for the end to be any good. So, back when we were still clearing out the geth – Garrus wasn't with us at that point, he was back on the Citadel going through some Spectre training, which" – she looked pointedly at her husband – "he never finished; the Collectors attacked the original _Normandy, _and she went down. I was trying to get everyone to the escape pods when Kaidan told me that this one here" – she turned her pointed stare from her husband to Joker – "refused to leave the cockpit. Well, I trudged on up there, already in my suit – everything was gone: gravity, life support, everything; I was basically walking on floating pieces of metal that still partially resembled the _Normandy, _only to find Joker sitting at his chair trying to raise the failed shields."

"Well, what the hell was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave her."

Shepard nodded, rolling her eyes a bit. "Well, I finally dragged him out of the chair—"

"And thanks, again, Commander, for the broken arm!"

"—and pushed him into an escape pod. The Collectors chose that moment to shoot at us again and, well… my suit ruptured and I was spaced."

Sojat froze with his spoon half way to his mouth. _Spaced…? But… that's not possible._

Joker jumped in before Sojat could voice any disbelief, though. "Weird, right?"

_An unshackled AI who is _dating _a human, the Omega-4 Relay and the Collectors, and a resurrected Alliance Commander… how much weirder can this night get? _Sojat thought, still trying to wrap his head around the possibility that this human woman had, in fact, died.

"I know; it's hard to believe," Jane continued, calmly eating her food without so much of a second thought to the story she was telling. "But, it's true. I came back because of Cerberus; the resurrected me. And, no, I'm not a clone or an AI. Trust me, I've had my own issues with those worries, but EDI here has scanned me more than I'd like to admit, and she says that I'm completely human, just with quite a few upgrades. She's Cerberus and Reaper tech, so she knows Cerberus programming well, and… I trust her." Sojat nodded accepting her word, but still having difficulty believing that was even possible; he would have to ask Emma to elaborate later – but in a very private place; that conversation didn't need to be overheard by anyone. And, on top of Jane Shepard being spaced and then resurrected… the mech sitting at the opposite corner of the table was… built with Cerberus and Reaper technology? He had a lot of questions for Emma later – or her mother.

"I still do not see the point of deceit, when it does not directly secure my personal goals," Sojat turned towards the mech when she spoke, his eyes widening at her statement.

"Yeah, EDI, we're still waiting for your reckoning. When's that supposed to happen?" Jane asked casually, with a small smile on her face as she reached forward to retrieve her wine.

"At an unspecified, future time. Based off of my calculations, there are a variety of moments that may be suitable, but the most beneficial one is still undetermined," the synthetic replied evenly, still idly twirling her drink. Sojat simply stared between the mech and Jane, trying to determine if this was all actually a joke or not.

"We'll be waiting for the day, EDI; just make sure to keep us posted… Anyway, after my resurrection, I ended up teaming up with Cerberus for a few months to fight the Collectors. They were targeting human colonies on the border worlds and the Alliance wasn't doing much to prevent it. So, as much as I hated it, I didn't seem any other choice at the time. I ended up flying around the galaxy, trying to protect human colonies as we came past them, while also attempting to put together a team to fight the Collectors. The first place I ended up going after I woke up from my… reconstruction, was to Omega; the first two dossiers the Illusive Man sent me were for Mordin Solus, a scientist salarian, and Archangel."

Sojat's ears perked up at that name; his father had always appreciated what the vigilante turian had been able to accomplish on that asteroid, and to think that Jane Shepard may have actually met him… that was impressive, even if the turian had been killed on Omega. Sojat, himself, personally thought that the turian was unnecessarily brutal and that there were many other methods that could have been used to help clean up the station – history proved that violence was rarely a successful method of accomplishing a goal; but, he still was interested to see how much Jane knew about the turian, even if he didn't really appreciate the vigilante's ruthlessness – he'd leave that gratitude to people like his father.

"I have heard of Archangel before. He was the vigilante turian who helped take down three mercenary gangs on Omega in 2185."

"Ah, yes, so you've heard of him?" Garrus rumbled as he leaned forward on the table, looking intensely at Sojat. _And, apparently, people like Emma's father… _Vakarian placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hand in front of him; the look he was giving the drell… Sojat couldn't quite place it. Emma's father almost seemed… excited, or something.

"And, yes, you are correct. Archangel did do a little… housecleaning on that station. The statistics are impressive; I've even heard he brought the crime rate down by almost 40% during his tenure," her father continued. Sojat wasn't surprised Vakarian knew about the vigilante – he was turian after all, and, in spite of the… imaginative nature of Archangel's tactics, the vigilante had made a name for himself galaxy wide.

Garrus rested his elbows on the table, eyes locking on the drell in front of him. If what Jane said was true, and this drell preferred history and politics… he'd be fairly surprised with some of the stories Garrus had 'heard' about this Archangel. He shot a quick glance over to Joker who returned the look with a slight wink.

Jane looked over to her husband as he decided to take his chance; his mandibles were twitching against the side of his face – the same way they usually did when he got a particularly devious idea. She tried to force back the small, unbelieving smile that was pulling at the corner of her mouth as she moved to say something. But, before she even got her mouth open, Joker pitched in, cutting her off, upholding his part in the plan.

"I heard his headshots were the most precise anyone had ever seen."

"Yes, he was supposed to be… spectacular with a rifle. And… merciless," Garrus responded to Joker before throwing his gaze to Sojat once again. "He upheld the law in the only manner that station understood: an eye for an eye. Few on that rock are truly innocent..."

Sojat swallowed slightly; maybe talking about Archangel was a bad idea… Emma's father seemed very… passionate about the vigilante. And, from what Emma had told him, he knew her father was excellent with a rifle as well; the terrifying moment when Garrus had pulled his Widow up to his eye on the porch was still stuck in the forefront of Sojat's mind. But, as much as Vakarian's excitement about this topic unsettled his stomach a bit, he didn't see how it could hurt to encourage Emma's father to continue the story. Maybe, if he showed interest in what Vakarian had to say, Emma's father would be more accepting of him. Taking a breath and steeling himself for what he only imagined to be a very intense story, Sojat nodded his head slightly; Vakarian grinned up at him before continuing the story.

"And, while headshots—"

"Dad, we really don't need to tell this story!" Emma cut in, giving her father a reproachful look. "I'm sure Sojat does not need a detailed account of Archangel's headshots," she continued, looking over to her date before returning her gaze to her father.

"Actually, I would… enjoy hearing what your father has to say," Sojat replied respectfully, hoping that the story wouldn't actually be _that _detailed. _If it will just get him to like me a little more, I'll take a gory story at the dinner table._

"Sojat… you don't have to…" she trailed off as the drell shook his head at her.

"No, really. I would like to hear this story. My father has mentioned Archangel many times, but I've never heard any real stories about the vigilante," he replied to Emma. She knew what Sojat was getting himself into, but… maybe he really did want to hear the stories. She'd heard his dad talk about some of his work with the hanar earlier at lunch – which she had found fascinating – so maybe Sojat actually wanted to hear about this: something about her family – even if he didn't realize it at the moment. Sojat had grown up in a military family, and even if he was more interested in history and government, she was sure he could at least appreciate a war story once in a while. And, he had just said earlier that his dad told stories like this at the dinner table, just ones that weren't as interesting… It wasn't the greatest introduction to their family life, but… Well, maybe it wouldn't be that bad. And, one way or another, he'd hear these stories eventually…

Emma just shook her head, giving in to Sojat, and looked over to her mother in exasperation. Jane just shrugged, but Sojat noticed a slight annoyed smile pulling at the corner of her mouth; obviously, neither female thought this was a good idea, but, if he could show Vakarian he was interested, maybe it would all work out. _It couldn't be _that _bad of an idea… _Vakarian nodded at the drell before continuing.

"Headshots were his preferred method of execution, but… I've heard of another few stories about some more… _creative_ ways the Archangel executed the unjust…" Garrus drawled, flaring his mandibles outward in a threatening grin, his pupils darkening slightly.

Sojat glanced over at Jane who just sighed and rolled her eyes – maybe her husband told a lot of stories about Archangel, since he really seemed to admire his work; that would explain her annoyed amusement with the situation. He looked back to Vakarian who was still smirking at him from across the table, in a way that suddenly looked much more hostile than friendly. He heard Emma sigh quietly beside him, and he turned to look at her briefly; she was also rolling her eyes and glaring slightly at her father, but just as she opened her mouth to say something else, Joker jumped into the conversation once again, preventing any interruption on her part. EDI was just sitting patiently in her chair, gazing between Joker and Garrus in mild interest; Joker smiled inwardly, pleased that his conversation with her about "letting Emma's uncle and father talk to the drell" was still firmly in the front of her mind.

"Ooh, I've never heard any of those stories. Do you remember any off the top of your head?" Joker said, turning slightly in his chair so he was facing Garrus more directly. Sojat smiled a little; at least the pilot – or Emma's uncle, whichever it was – seemed interested as well. That would, hopefully, make it easier to keep Vakarian talking.

"Ah… yes, one, in particular, seems to stand out in my mind. It was… particularly brutal, even for Archangel. Apparently, Archangel made this specific criminal suffer, far longer than was truly necessary. However, the atrocities that this man had committed… to the innocent, to the vulnerable… he deserved every moment of it, if you ask me. He was a slaver. Preyed on young girls." Garrus glanced around the table, before settling his glance on the drell once again; the slaver's cargo wasn't actually human girls, it was usually young asari… but, a little embellishment never hurt anyone. "Human girls, about my daughter's age, to be exact."

Sojat's eyes widened slightly as he swallowed heavily. That last statement was a threat. Definitely a threat. _This was a bad idea… _he reprimanded himself, hoping that Vakarian would simply get the story over with, without going into too much detail. He sorely doubted that, though. Vakarian grinned at the drell's facial expression, flaring his mandibles out and pulling back his mouth plates to expose his teeth, which only made Sojat more nervous. _This was a very bad idea… _Sojat felt his heart rate speed up as a breath hitched in his throat. The lights on Vakarian's visor blinked, no doubt, in response to the drell's reaction. Garrus just continued though, his eyes focused intently on the alien sitting next to his daughter.

"From what I've heard, it took Archangel a few weeks to track this particular slaver down; the batarian was always moving, altering his pick up and drop off points for every exchange. And, when Archangel finally cornered him… I heard he took his time with the batarian, slowly draining the life from his eyes…"

"How?" Joker asked; he was leaning forward on the table, obviously very interested in this story. Jane was absently eating the rest of her mashed potatoes and Emma was finishing up her salmon, both glancing at Vakarian every couple of minutes with an odd look on their faces; Joker had already finished his second helping of everything, and his fork was resting, abandoned, on his plate.

"Ah, well… from what I've heard, Archangel had been pursuing the batarian slaver – Kron Harga – for weeks. The turian wasn't usually interested in, ah… gathering information; but, this batarian had a large list of contacts the turian had been unable to track down. This particular exchange was located near the outskirts of the Kima district. The… merchandise was a number of young women, all set to be sold into sex slavery elsewhere on the station. Archangel had taken up his post on the roof of an old abandoned workshop, leaving him a clear view to the streets below and a clear shot at anyone who walked in his sights. When Harga arrived, with his guards, Archangel took out each of his guards; a headshot between the eyes, to each one, leaving Harga surrounded by the bodies." Garrus chuckled, darkly, as he _recalled _the stories, his gaze resolutely on the drell sitting in front of him. "I remember hearing how, for weeks after the slaughter, brain matter went untouched on that dingy street. Batarian blood and tissue leaves behind an, ah... oily residue that is rather hard to clean up," he said, smirking at the drell and then turning his glance to Joker. Emma's father stopped briefly and took a bite of his dinner, before returning his hands to the table, trying to let the last statement linger around the table.

"Apparently, the batarian pulled out his pistol and tried to sight the sniper on the roof. But… before he had even marked the gunman, a round from Archangel's rifle tore through the slaver's arm, causing the batarian to drop his pistol. Archangel took another shot, this one taking out the slaver's other arm. His first kneecap went next." Garrus unfolded his hands and reached up with one to adjust the headpiece on his visor. "I heard the blood trail on the street never really disappeared. The slaver apparently tried to hide behind a column." Garrus took another pause, looking over the digital readouts of the drell's heart rate and breathing pattern; the story was definitely affecting the boy. This had been one of his more brutal kills, and was the perfect story to… educate Emma's date about the ruthlessness of Archangel; he still remembered the sounds the batarian made as he blew out the slavers first kneecap and the way the alien writhed on the ground like an injured varren, trying to put as much distance between himself and his fate. But, as the synopsis of the story seemed to be having the desired effect, he could save those particular details for another… lesson in Archangel's tactics.

"Once Archangel had made his way down to the street, he grabbed the slaver and propped him up against a wall. Archangel used a stim pack to keep the batarian conscious…" Garrus said, scratching at the back of his neck before leaning back over the table, facing the drell. He could still vividly remember the way the slaver had still tried to escape, using his only good leg to push himself back against the column, before Garrus had shot out his other kneecap; the sound he made with the bone blew… it was pitiful while still pure agony. Like someone being gutted when they knew they would die in a much worse way than blood loss.

"I've heard Archangel liked to avoid primary organs in criminals like this – especially those that preyed on innocent girls. The thought, is that Archangel believed they should suffer before dying; bleeding out was too easy a way to go…" Garrus paused again, taking another bite of his food before returning his elbows to the table and glancing around at its occupants, upholding the pretense. Joker was smirking at the end of the table, desperately trying to hold in his laughter; Emma and Jane were both still focused on their food, only occasionally picking up their eyes to throw an incredulous – and irritated – glance towards Garrus.

Sojat's gaze was locked directly on the turian in front of him, eyes wide and pupils dilated in fear; if Garrus didn't know better, he might have believe the drell was just captivated by his story. But, the increase in body temperature, the rapid heart rate, and the shallow breathing all indicated something else: fear. To Sojat, it was painfully clear – as Vakarian's visor blinked, flashing unreadable turian text across the turian's unwavering gaze – that Emma's father had picked this particular story to further terrify him. If Vakarian had been aiming for a story that brought into focus his and Archangel's shared similarities with a rifle, while also focusing on an alien slaver who preyed on human girls… it was definitely working. It was all working. Sitting at this table and not giving in to his nausea or fear was becoming more and more challenging. He took a sharp breath as Vakarian opened his mouth to continue, hoping that the turian didn't go into too much detail with the remainder of this story.

"The, ah… interrogation was… brutal according to our intel. But, the Hierarchy assumes that Archangel got what he was after; all the slaver's contacts were found dead, not long after. Headshots through the eyes. Harga… his fate wasn't as… kind. No one knows what order the injuries came in after the interrogation. Gunshot wounds were found through his heart, stomach, one lung, and his forehead. His face was also shattered; most likely… by the butt of Archangel's rifle. The worst… I've heard different stories, the Hierarchy and Shadow Broker differentiating on the course of events… but, I'm inclined to believe that the headshot came last, _after_ Archangel had doused him in fuel and set him on fire. Unnecessary, but headshots were his… signature, in a way."

Garrus leaned back in his chair, letting the story settle down over the table. Years ago, when Shepard and Liara had showed him the files the Shadow Broker had compiled on him, he had been fairly shocked that the information broker had gotten the last part wrong. The dossier on Garrus Vakarian had said that Kron Harga had died from a headshot wound and was _then_ set on fire, most likely the work of an explosive crate. This batarian… Garrus had been so full of fury after all the suffering he had caused; no, he had died much more slowly. Much more hands-on. An explosive crate was not used in that slaver's death; that was much too… impersonal for a man that dealt in intimate crimes.

Sojat was still staring at him, from across the table. Garrus remained silent for a while, prompting Emma to finally look over to him, silently hoping that her father was done – and that Sojat wouldn't spur him on anymore. That hope went crashing out the window though, as both Sojat and Joker piped up at the same moment.

"Shit. I knew Archangel was supposed to be harsh… but, damn," Joker said, shaking his head in awe as he leaned back in his own chair – at the perfect angle to hide the smile that planted itself on his face.

Sojat, from the other side of Emma, added in, "Do you know how he died?" The drell tried to put on a strong face, hoping beyond hope that he could keep his food down, but his stomach was steadily getting more unsettled; he was glad that he had eaten most of the soup – he couldn't imagine trying to shovel more broth down after hearing that story. Sojat cringed as he thought about leaving behind any of the soup. That was not appropriate table manners when you were a guest in someone else's house. However, that story was… also definitely not appropriate dinner etiquette. It was far beyond anything he had imagined he'd be hearing tonight.

"Archangel?" Vakarian asked casually, picking up his fork and returning it to his plate. He seemed far to calm for just having told such a gruesome story.

"Yeah," Joker pitched in. "He died on that station, right? Well…" – he looked around the table, putting on a show of pure fascination – "that's what most people say, right?"

"Yes, he was apparently taken down by a gunship," Garrus said nodding slightly. "However, the Shadow Broker seems to believe that he was, ah… rescued and taken off world."

"How…? You have the Shadow Broker's information on Archangel?" Sojat asked, suddenly even more nervous.

"I utilize the Broker's services when… the _need _arises. To protect my family." Vakarian stared straight at the drell, his blue eyes boring into Sojat's black orbs. Sojat felt his heart rate speed up even more, his stomach threatening to flip over, as he thought about all the information the Broker might have on his own family… On him. _Did the Broker have agents on Earth? If he has agents on Earth… has he seen me with Emma? Did he see me… kiss her? If her father finds out we've been dating for almost six months without telling him… _The room was suddenly much too hot and he was having trouble breathing steadily. But Garrus just continued and answered Joker and Sojat's other question.

"That last piece of information? The Broker indicated that Archangel indeed survived… and, now resides on Earth."

"Earth… why?" Sojat whispered.

"Housecleaning."

"Housecleaning…" Sojat repeated, swallowing heavily.

"There are plenty of… lowlifes here…"

"I heard he actually followed a woman here," Jane cut in, looking over at her husband and stopping him from elaboration on what 'housecleaning' meant. "At least… that's what one of the Broker's agents told me. Apparently, this woman was the one that rescued him from the three gangs he was fighting off. He was trapped in an old building with absolutely no way to escape; the only exit was across a bridge, but, the mercenaries controlled the other side. The body count was impressive from the Broker's records; dead mercs actually ended up providing good cover for the woman – up until Archangel sighted her and took out her shields…" she looked over to her husband and the gleam in her eyes caused Sojat's blood to run cold.

"As the Broker's agent said… Archangel knew that one round wouldn't cause any 'real damage' to the woman. Apparently, the turian had to keep up the pretense of firing on her even though he had realized that she was targeting the mercs instead of him. Ultimately, this woman helped him escape – though, I heard she was almost too late. Archangel was very lucky she found him when she did, as he was half dead by the time she got him back to her ship. Rocket to the face…" she trailed off and Sojat's thoughts went wild. _That sounded… Jane did say she went to Omega to recruit Archangel… was that… was she…?_

"It was just a concussive shot, Jane… I couldn't have caused any real damage if I'd tried…"

Sojat choked on his water, turning to cough into his napkin; Emma patted him gently on his back until he regained use of his lungs. The drell slowly returned to an upright position at the table, glancing between the right side of Vakarian's face and Jane's expression; Emma's mother was glaring daggers at her husband, but he thought he noticed a small smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Sojat turned his unbelieving eyes back to Vakarian, who quirked his brow plates at the drell, smirking in a way that made him look truly menacing… much like what Sojat would have imagined Archangel to look like. The drell's gaze flashed to the side briefly, landing on the deep, jagged scars that riddled the side of Vakarian's face, from his eye down to his neck; Emma's father's colony markings were ruined on the right side and his mandible looked horribly marred. _There's no way… there's no way… _He turned again when he heard a small giggle from his left; Emma was holding her face in her hands, trying to suppress her laughture while she gently shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Sojat! I'm so sorry," she said, still laughing, as she reached over to grab his hand which of course, in turn, caused Garrus to growl lowly from across the table. He saw Jane jerk and Vakarian stopped growling, clamping his mandibles shut; another kick, Sojat guessed. "I should have warned you," Emma said as she tried to get him to face her, holding on to his hand in spite of his attempts to keep space between them; he definitely didn't want to piss her father off now. _Her father is Archangel… Arashu, watch over me._

"No, it's fi – I just – that's –" Sojat sputtered, trying to figure out how he was supposed to respond to the knowledge he just obtained. He finally just gave up speaking. _Archangel…_ He had finally found an amazing girl, who didn't judge him on his species or his family's decision to step down from the hanar's service; she never questioned why he was on Earth and never judged his choice not to follow in a military career path – something that most every other species expected from drell. She was sweet, caring, loyal… everything that he hadn't found in his own species and now… It was utterly terrifying and intimidating to find out that your girlfriend's mother is Admiral Jane Shepard. But, to find out that her father… not only is he General Vakarian, the Primarch of Palaven's top advisor, but he's _Archangel. _How was he ever going to hold her hand or kiss her again without being worried he would just fall over, a hole torn through his forehead. If he didn't care about Emma as much as he did, he would leave now, before Vakarian could say anything else – before her father had a chance to point a rifle in his face again.

Jane cut into his rambling, trying to save him from any other awkwardness. "I'm sorry for my husband, Sojat. He's rather… passionate about his time on Omega – and a little overly protective of the family if you haven't noticed," she said, shooting Garrus a look; when her husband went to argue, she turned to face him directly and gave the turian what Sojat could only describe as an "Alliance Admiral" glare and Vakarian promptly shut his mouth. "We try to keep that part of his life very quiet since there are still people out there that would love to have Archangel's head. Though, I like to believe they would be singing a different tune if they knew who he actually was," she said as she stood up from her chair and started to collect everyone's plates, carrying them over to the sink. "Very few people actually know who he is – thanks in large part to the Shadow Broker, who has helped us keep it quiet by buying people off."

Sojat nodded as he passed his bowl to Emma's mother, folding his napkin and placing it beside his glass. He understood the reasoning behind keeping it quiet. The First Human Spectre, Destroyer of the Reapers, mated to Archangel, the vigilante turian with no understanding of mercy, just a twitchy trigger finger that had a tendency to spasm when anyone strode pass his ever-present crosshairs? Yes, that knowledge would definitely warrant some undesired attention. Though, at this point, it sounded like they knew the Shadow Broker on a much more personal level than they indicated. Honestly, he wouldn't really be surprised if that were the case; it wouldn't be that much more strange than what he'd already found out about Emma's family. _Of all the girls I've courted… why does the one I care for the most have the most terrifying family?_

"But, anyway, that story was way off track; I still have to tell you about the drell I served with – assuming, you still want to know. It won't be nearly as enthralling or terrifying as the last story was," Jane said, reaching over to grab Sojat's glass and patting him lightly on his shoulder; Vakarian's mandibles were pulled tight against his face as he watched Jane's hand land on the drell's arm. Sojat just stared at Emma's father, before tearing his gaze away from the turian's eyes and following Jane's path into the kitchen.

"I think I could go for a more relaxing story," Sojat said, forcing out a small smile for Emma's mother. His mind was still running wild; letting Vakarian tell that story obviously hadn't worked… He still seemed to dislike him just as much. And, now, he was even more terrified of her father. Emma had said just be patient… maybe, that would work. No matter how appealing the idea of just giving into his fear and bolting out the front door was, he couldn't do that to Emma. He cared for her far too much. Maybe… they'd just spend more time with his parents… or alone. In a secure room, with no windows for a sniper to sight through.

"Good. And, I'll have to find a way to make all of this up to you; you shouldn't have to deal with a story like that the first time you have dinner with your girlfriend's parents… Though, you have dealt better than any of her previous boyfriends—"

"Mom!" Emma yelled, glaring at her mother while a slight flush rose up to her cheeks.

"Sorry!" Jane mouthed at her daughter, while smiling widely at the teenager's embarrassment. Emma, however, didn't seem to share her mother's amusement with the situation; she huffed slightly, looking thoroughly mortified, and shyly glanced over at Sojat, hoping that her boyfriend didn't feel any more awkward after that last comment. Sojat just grinned down at Emma, lightly nudging her leg with his knee underneath the table; Emma rolled her eyes at his slight teasing gesture before turning to glare at her mother again. Jane just smiled as she watched the young couple's interaction, and continued to clear off dishes from around the table, finally stopping next to her husband. She glanced back over to Emma and Sojat and motioned towards the living room.

"Why don't you go on over and sit down in the living area – throw on a vid or something. Your father and I will clean up the dishes and then I'll finish up my story," Jane said, looking at Emma and her boyfriend. Sojat made a move as if to help Emma's mother gather up some glasses but Jane promptly shooed him off. "Don't worry about the dishes, you two just go relax – you and EDI as well," Jane said, looking over at Joker who nodded towards her, obviously pleased with that idea. Jane turned her attention to her husband who was still watching the drell, intently, though narrowed eyes. She nudged him lightly on his shoulder, dragging his attention over to her. "Garrus and I will manage."

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**What did you think? Poor Sojat! He never seems to catch a break. Though, I'm sure Garrus thoroughly enjoyed every minute of that. **

**Authors note as of 6/4/2013: I will be reposting the original ending conversation between Garrus and Jane later this week as its own chapter. Thank you all so much for reading!**


	6. Paternal Anxieties

**The addendum, now known as chapter 5, is finally done! Sorry for the long wait! This is the conversation between Garrus and Jane that was originally written as part of chapter 4; however, as I started writing chapter 6, I realized that there was a lot I wanted to add to that conversation and a lot of emotions I wanted to explore. Thus, chapter 5 was born; I simply removed the original ending from chapter 4 and expanded hugely on it to make sure that everything was well fleshed out. As always, I'd love to know what you think about this chapter!**

**Sereneffect deserved an enormous thank you for her work on this chapter! She edited this chapter upwards of four times, since I kept, obsessively, changing the progression of it. Thank you so much Sereneffect! You know I never would have finished this chapter without your help! You are amazing! Another thank you to everyone that read this story, reviewed, followed, and/or favorited. I am so happy to see that people are enjoying this story!**

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"Garrus and I will manage," Jane said, lightly nudging her husband on his shoulder. Garrus tore his eyes away from the drell sitting next to his daughter to turn and look at his mate, who just returned his gaze with a look of her own; a look that said, "You are going to help me, Soldier, whether you like it or not." He brought his eyes back over to Sojat, once more, before the turian heaved himself out of his chair and started gathering up some dishes from around the table. He watched from the corner of his eyes as Emma stood up, Sojat's hand still clenched in her own, and almost dragged the drell over to the living room. EDI stood up shortly after that, going over to help Joker out of his chair and wrapping her arm lovingly around his waist; the synthetic somehow managed to gracefully carry her still-full martini over to the living room, while helping to support the hobbling pilot, without sloshing the contents of the glass.

After a moment, an elbow to his side – this one sharper than the last – alerted Garrus to his mate's expectant gaze.

"What?" he asked quietly, mandibles drooping slightly, in a sheepish manner; he hadn't expected his mate to be pleased with his… story, but, Jane seemed much more frustrated than he'd anticipated.

"You know what. You just better be thankful he seemed interested in hearing that story or your daughter and I _never _would have let you get away with that; though, I seriously doubt he was truly interested in Archangel. More than likely, he just wanted to be polite and was acting like he was interested in what you had to say. And dragging Joker in to this!" Jane furiously growled out, glaring at her husband.

"We were just telling stories," Garrus said, gathering up a few more dishes and tossing them into the sanitation receptacle while trying to avoid Jane's livid gaze. He heard a deep sigh to his right after a moment, and cautiously risked a glance over at his mate.

"Garrus, please? Just… try to be nice to him?" she said, trying to calm her voice a little. Jane looked over at her husband, catching his sideways glance. When he turned his eyes back to the sink in front of them, she sighed again and set down a dirty plate before turning to face him fully. She gently reached out and grabbed his hand slightly, entwining their fingers. "I know you're worried, Garrus – I am too. I don't like the idea of her growing up and dating any more than you do. But… she has to figure some things out on her own, just like Gaius."

"Jane, Gaius is eighteen and in the military!" Garrus huffed out, tossing another plate rather roughly into the sanitation receptacle, before turning back to grab another dirty dish form the sink.

"Yes, but, if you remember, he was fourteen when he left for Palaven – more than a year younger than Emma is now," Jane said, trying again.

"She's our _daughter_, Jane, not our son," Garrus hissed, setting the dirty dish back in the sink and leaning heavily on the counter; he bowed his head slightly, trying to keep his mounting frustration under control. _Why doesn't she understand? Why is she not worried?_

"Garrus, she's just as capable as he was at her age. More so, in some ways. And, he's off in the military on a different planet… Garrus I'm more worried about him than Emma."

"Don't change the subject, Jane," Garrus growled, pushing off the counter and turning to face his mate. "Gaius is fine. Every turian enlists at fifteen and we both know he's perfectly safe. Your worry should be aimed at your daughter, who can't even enlist for another three years, but is dating a _drell _who is almost as old as our son."

"Garrus… it's normal for her to start dating. She's just trying to figure herself out…" Jane said, reaching up to cup his mandibles gently, stroking her thumb across the edges.

"Gaius started dating _after _he finished his first year in basic – and, he's only had one, ah… partner. Why does Emma have to start now? And, with someone so… different than her?"

"I'm tempted to say it's a cultural thing" – Garrus huffed – "but, I really think she just takes after me. I started dating when I was her age," Jane said, sighing and turning back to the dishes.

"Jane, I really don't need to hear about your past sexual partners. I guarantee, that will not reassure me," he mumbled, his thoughts turning once again to Thane; even if Jane had never shown any interest in the drell… Krios had shown interest in her. And, now, _another_ drell was dating his daughter.

"Garrus, I promise, she'll be okay. He seems like a good kid. Please, just try to be nice to him?" his mate said, dragging his thoughts back to the conversation.

"I haven't kicked him out of our house yet…" Garrus muttered.

"No, but you did get pretty close to scaring him out the door. Garrus, he's a good kid. You saw how courteous he was – to me and to you. Especially to our daughter. And, I think Emma really cares about him." Jane glanced over to the living room, watching Joker and EDI sit down on the loveseat, across from the other large chair that Sojat and Emma were sharing; Emma was pressed up against the drell's side, still holding his hand, while they both listened to Joker as he started telling them some other story. Sojat had been more than polite during his visit so far and Jane was happy to see him finally relaxing with her daughter. For the moment, Jane didn't see the purpose of talking to her husband about his new habit of growling whenever Sojat made any sort of appreciative gesture; if it was drell custom to bow in gratitude – which, she had a hunch it was – Sojat didn't need to worry about Emma's father growling at him whenever he was trying to be courteous. Jane would bring that up with her husband if he kept at it, but… she was much more concerned about just getting her husband to give the kid a chance.

Garrus mumbled something in response to her statement and Jane watched as he glanced over to the living room as well. Joker was now talking animatedly to Sojat, probably telling the two teenagers some exaggerated version of one of the _Normandy_'s harrowing escapes. Sojat was smiling slightly, his shoulders a bit more relaxed than they had been at the table. Garrus watched the drell's posture, his gaze narrowing in on the slight upturn of the drell's scaly mouth; was _this _the real Sojat? The drell had been so courteous and respectful up to this point – at the dinner table and before, when he had first arrived to their home. Was that properness just a show for Emma's parents? Or was that how he acted normally? He seemed more relaxed now, sitting next to Emma, not under the intimidating gaze of her parents… Was he normally this easygoing? Did he actually respect Emma or was he just acting that was in the presence of Admiral Shepard and General Vakarian? How did the drell treat Emma when they were… alone?

Garrus ground his jaw shut, trying to force his attention back to the dishes in the sink.

"Garrus, are you okay?" Jane asked, reaching up to his face again, lightly pressing her palm against his mandible and gently turning his head so she could meet her husband's eyes; Garrus's gaze was resting anywhere except on her and she was having to work to maintain eye contact with him. "What's worrying you so much about him? He seems like a good kid…"

_You don't know that… _Garrus's thought's argued. _You never saw the darker side of Thane, you never saw the cold-blooded assassin… All you saw that the good in him, the man who lost his wife and loved his son. That's all you ever see in people; you only see good. _He bowed his head and turned away from his mate, almost ashamed at the direction his thoughts were taking him in; that was Archangel talking.

"Jane… what if we _don't _know who he is, what he's like? How can we be sure he treats Emma… well?"

"Garrus, I'm sure he treats her well. She's only dating him – and, I don't think Emma would date anyone who treated her poorly. She's stronger than that," Jane said, hoping that she was actually comforting her husband rather than further worrying him.

Rationally, Garrus knew Emma wouldn't stand to be mistreated; she was much too like her mother to just sit back and passively take it. No, he knew that Emma would either deal with it by herself or tell them if she needed help. Rationally, he knew that. But… so far, today, he hadn't been the most level-headed. He held on to the side of the sink with his hands, glancing, once again, back over to the living room. His eyes wandered over the two couples who were still immersed in conversation, finally landing on the younger couple's intertwined hands. Sojat disentangled his fingers from Emma's hand and moved as if he was planning on wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Garrus suppressed a growl, his fingers clenching against the counter as the drell glanced up and caught Emma's father's gaze. The drell's eyes widened slightly as he slowly brought his hand down, careful not to even brush against Emma's arm; he brought his other hand up from where is was resting on the cushion of the loveseat, placing both hands in his lap and clasping his fingers together. He seemed to be deliberately making sure that he cut off any hand-holding attempts from Emma. Risking one final look at the turian, the drell returned his attention to Joker, his shoulders slightly more tense than they had been a second ago.

Garrus smirked; at least Sojat seemed adequately nervous about touching Emma in front of her father.

But… even if he was cautious about his behavior in his girlfriend's house… what was he like when her parents weren't in the same room? Just seeing the two of them holding hands, watching how Sojat seemed to, so naturally, rotate his shoulder to extend his arm around Emma's back… How long had he been touching her like that? Was it really just oral contact with a drell that put a person at risk, or… could a small gesture like that actually put Emma at risk? And, if it was actually just oral contact… had the drell gone further than simply wrapping his arm around his daughter's shoulders? Had Sojat… kissed her?

Garrus forced his eyes away from the living room as his thoughts started to run wild. He turned to the opposite wall, exchanging one countertop for another, his talons finding little purchase on the sleek metal. Jane put down whatever dish she had been working on and, reaching out to his lower back, started to gently stroke reassuring paths across his plates.

"Garrus, talk to me? What's going on? You're worrying me… You've never seemed this… agitated about Emma dating before," she said as she continued to trace light circles on his back.

_She's never dated anyone who wasn't human… _he thought. _She's never dated someone who could… hurt her so easily._ He knew how much drell and human physiology differed; he had seen the differences in musculature in Thane and the rest of the male crew on the SR2. Thane had been one of the few crew members that could take Shepard in the ring… _He was so much stronger than she had been, even ill as he was… _Sojat was much thinner than Thane, but… how could they be certain that he wouldn't hurt Emma – even if it was accidental, even if he tried not to hurt her? Garrus had always been extremely cautious with Jane – especially in the beginning of their relationship. But, who was to say this drell cared enough about Emma to hold himself back, to put her well-being in front of his own – in front of his own desires. How could they be sure that Sojat wouldn't use his species' differences against Emma, for his own benefit?

"I just… how much does she know about his species?" he whispered, trying to subdue the wave of fear and protectiveness that was threatening to overwhelm him. He couldn't imagine his daughter being put in a compromised position… one where no one would be there to make sure she wasn't hurt – where _he _wouldn't be there to help her. He'd worried about the same thing back during the run against the Collectors – only with his mate, not his daughter. When Krios had started confiding in Jane, she had started trusting him more and more… The thought of Jane letting her barriers down, trusting someone – someone other than himself, someone that Garrus couldn't be sure wouldn't hurt her… It haunted him. Thane had never been forceful with his attempts at courting her; in fact, he had backed off the minute Jane had told him she had someone else. And, Sojat… he didn't seem pushy or disrespectful at all; he seemed to rely on Emma's guidance most of the night. _But, again… is that the _real _Sojat, or just a façade? _Garrus couldn't suppress the worry – no matter how irrational he tried to convince himself it was – that some drell might use their physiology to their advantage, on the vulnerable… like his daughter. What was stopping Sojat from pushing himself on Emma? Had he already been forceful with her? How would they know if he had already hurt her?

"What… what do you mean? What about his species?" Jane said, crinkling her eyes in confusion.

"What does she know about drell?" he repeated, still trying to stifle the growls that were bubbling up to the surface.

"I'm not sure… Garrus, is this really what's bothering you? His species? I'm sure he's not going to hurt her, especially not just because he's a different species, if that's what you're worried about…"

"How do you know that, Jane? How can you know that she's safe with him? That he's not… using her?"

"Garrus, I really don't think there's any reason to worry about that. He's been more than kind to her – and to us. And, I trust Emma to tell us if she needs help. I think we would both notice if our daughter was unhappy. He seems to really care for her and I don't think he'd hurt her," she said, reiterating the same things again, while still trying to lightly rub away some of the tension in the muscles beneath his plates.

Garrus grunted, staring at the stovetop in front of him without really seeing it. Emma had never been one to hide anything from her parents; she'd always asked for help before if she truly needed it – though, she was very headstrong, like her mother, and preferred to do things on her own. And, Spirits knew Emma wasn't one to keep quiet… No, they would have seen a change in her is something was amiss. He sighed. Jane was right, as usual; Emma wouldn't keep something like that from them. He exhaled again and slowly unclenched his talons from around the edge of the counter, turning to face Jane.

"I'm sorry, Jane. I just, ah… I don't want anything to happen to her," he said, bending down and brushing his brow plates against her forehead before turning to glance back over to the living room. Sojat was still sitting with both of his hands firmly in his lap, but Emma seemed to have moved in, sitting slightly closer to him than she had been before and still listening intently to whatever Joker was saying.

"I know. But, you have to let her figure this out, Garrus. And, even if she does get hurt" – Garrus rumbled lowly as that thought rushed to the front of his mind – "we'll be there for her. You'll be there for her. You know she'll come to you… you've always been her favorite parent," Jane said, smiling slightly and winking up at her husband.

Garrus huffed. "Typical. I should have expected _your _daughter would like aliens more than her own species…" he grumbled, turning back towards the sink to rinse off a few more dishes.

"What can I say? Humans are always looking for something bigger and better," she said with a slight smirk and a shrug. She started when Garrus snapped his head over in her direction, a threatening growl erupting through his subharmonics. _What just happened?_ Jane's eyebrows quirked as she racked her brain, trying to figure out what had Garrus even angrier than before. _Bigger and better…_ "Wait… that metaphor… just went somewhere horrible. Garrus, that's not what I meant…" she stuttered, hoping that she hadn't pissed him off too much more. Or, worse… put an idea in her husband's head that he hadn't been focusing on.

Garrus huffed out a breath that could have been a failed attempt at a laugh, and turned away from his mate, looking back over to the living room. He watched Emma and Sojat while he continued, absentmindedly, rinsing glasses and plates before tossing them in the sanitation receptacle. Joker was evidently still telling his story, his hands flying over an imaginary console in front of him, as he tried to describe the events to the young couple. After a few dramatic sweeps of his hands, EDI turned towards him, cocking her head to the side a bit, and asked him a question; Joker turned his gaze away from Sojat and Emma and looked over at the synthetic, trying to explain his – what EDI would most likely call illogical – rationale. Sojat took the pause in the story and leaned in towards Emma, dipping his head down slightly, whispering in her ear.

The thrumming of his blood as it all rushed to his head caused Garrus to see red. The drell's scaly lips, moving so close to his daughter's ear… to the pulse point on his daughter's neck… Garrus clenched his talons on the edge of the sink, trying to focus all of his energy into breaking the counter rather than the drell's neck. He tried to pull his attention away from his daughter and the drell, tried to focus on anything other than the way a pink flush rose up on Emma's cheeks, or the way her shoulders shook slightly as she laughed at whatever Sojat had whispered.

Jane had always loved it whenever he whispered in her ear, teasing her neck with light, feathery exhales. To see someone so casually doing something that was so intimate to his daughter…

His breath hitched in his chest as an entirely new fear rushed forward, lodging itself in the forefront of his mind – something that hadn't even occurred to him up until this point. Emma was raised by a turian father – she had a turian brother. She understood more about turian culture than most humans did, even at such a young age. Did she… did she know… about… the turian view on intimacy? Did she… view intercourse as casually as turians typically did? What if… Did she know her brother had already had one sexual partner? Did she know he got his first partner when he wasn't much older than she was now? Did she know that is was considered _acceptable, natural, and healthy _by turian standards? Garrus knew that Gaius and Emma kept in contact… Had their son… told her… – about his partner or the military's stance on _stress relief_? Did she think it was okay for her – an unprotected, soft, human teenager – to become intimate at this age because she was raise by a turian?!

"Garrus?" Jane asked, gently reaching out and touching his arm, trying to get her husband's attention; his hands were clenching on the counter, talons scraping against the metal, and he was visibly shaking. _What had him so much more agitated? Nothing had changed._

Garrus's talons were still painfully clamped on the counter's edge when his mate's voice stopped his thoughts from spiraling further out of control. He relaxed his talons slightly, though his muscles were still just as rigid as before, and he turned towards his mate, eyes boring into hers as his mandibles twitched erratically against his jaw.

"How much does Emma know about turian culture?" he hissed, trying to keep his subharmonics under control.

"Turian culture… why?" Jane asked, her brow crinkling in confusion. _Isn't he worried about the drell? Why is he asking about _turian _culture?_

"Turian culture, Jane. What does she know?" he repeated, his voice sounding forcibly controlled.

"Garrus, I… I don't know. I mean… she knows what we've told her and I'm sure whatever Gaius has told her about the military, but… What about turian culture?" she asked, trying to figure out why her husband would be worried about what Emma knew about turian culture. _Turian culture... Emma wasn't turian. Is there some culture thing I'm missing out on?_

"How much does she know about… the turian view on… intercourse?"

"What?" Jane whispered, slowly setting down the dish she had been working on and turning to face her husband head-on; she hadn't expected his thoughts to go down that path. Sure, it was natural for a father to be concerned about his daughter having sex, but… why was he focused on the _turian_ view of sex… What was different between their cultures when it came to intimacy? Why would the turian view be more…? _Oh. Stress relief._

"What if she, ah… views intimacy… differently than humans should? Because… because of me or her brother," Garrus said, his gaze seemingly boring straight through Jane's eyes.

"Garrus…" Jane started, reaching over to him and gently grabbing his hand in, what she hoped, was a comforting manner. "We never talked about _that _aspect of turian culture with her. I thought we agreed that she didn't need to know about your species' views on… sparring and stress relief. At least, until she was older," she said, looking over to the living room to make sure that no one was watching them in the kitchen; Joker was chatting away once again, so they seemed to be in the clear.

"But, what if… what if, ah… Gaius told her? He's had a partner… and I know they talk a lot through vid comm. What if he mentioned it? I don't want her thinking that, just because she has a turian father, she can… act casually about intimacy. She's too vulnerable for that; it's not the same for your species. She doesn't understand the consequences… she can't protect herself."

"Garrus… I doubt her brother would tell her, so I don't think she even knows. And, anyway, I know I was never like that. With you, with anyone – especially with you. Sex is… not something most humans view that casually – especially at this age."

"Most humans aren't raised by a turian, Jane," Garrus said, wrenching his hand out of Jane's grasp and walking away from her, down the hall towards the stairs. He turned when he reached the end of the hallway and started pacing back towards the kitchen, following a path, up and down the corridor. _What if she gets hurt? If Gaius mentioned his partner to her… Humans are so curious. What if she tried it out… and got hurt? She's _my _daughter. I'm not going to have my daughter start _sparring_ just because she thinks her father does it… How does Jane not understand how dangerous this is for her? Why is she not worried?_ He and Jane had been so at odds with each other the entire day; they had always worked so well together, reading each other so easily. Why was it suddenly so difficult for him to explain anything to her; why wasn't she worried about the same things? It was like they were on totally separate pages… He forced his eyes shut and grit his teeth.

Drying her hands on a dish towel, Jane followed him down the hall and stopped him when he tried to start pacing back towards the kitchen for the third time. "Garrus, I—"

"Has she had any partners?" he asked, quietly cutting her off. He needed to know. _If she's had partners… if this _drell _has been intimate with my daughter… _He clenched his fists, talons biting into the leathery palms of his hands; he wasn't entirely sure what he would do when – if – he found out, but he needed to know, one way or another. He needed to know so he could protect his daughter. Protect his family.

"No… not that I know of… she's only fifteen," Jane replied, lightly reaching out and stroking up and down his biceps as she continued to block his path.

"That's what I've been trying to say this entire time, Jane," Garrus ground out, clenching his jaw and grinding his teeth together in an effort to control his frustration. He felt like he was repeating himself; she didn't understand. His mandibles flared out once, before settling themselves firmly against the side of his jaw.

Jane looked up at her husband, who looked more furious than she had seen him in years. _Was this all because he's worried about Emma having sex? Would it be different if she was dating a human? _He had never acted this way before, about any of Emma's other boyfriends; she couldn't figure out what else could have been causing her husband to look so… angry and fearful… almost possessive. She knew he was protective of their family – she understood that part of turian culture very well, from personal experience – but he had _never _seemed so distrusting about someone before.

She took a deep breath, forcing her thoughts back on his earlier question: _had _Emma had an intimate partner? Jane's eyebrows pulled together and her mouth turned down slightly as she thought back on all her recent conversations with her daughter. Emma hadn't mentioned anything about… sex or intimacy at all, nothing to indicate that it was even on her mind. Then again, what child – turian children not included – would openly talk to their parents about sex? They had compromised with Emma and Gaius, raising both of them with a mixture of human and turian customs; but when Gaius was twelve and told them he was going to enlist when he was of age, both she and Garrus had agreed that he needed to be aware of certain cultural things he would probably encounter on Palaven. They had talked to him – well, Garrus had talked to him – about sex and ever since those first few conversations on the matter, Gaius had always been very open with them about his personal life. It took Jane a little while to get over the… surprise of hearing about her _son's_ sexual experiences, but she had grown comfortable talking about it. It seemed so natural to both him and Garrus, that she had a hard time staying nervous when both of them were so at ease.

But… Emma? Jane had only had one direct conversation with her about sex and that was over a year ago. And Jane and Garrus had agreed that Emma should be raised by human standards when it came to intimacy – neither of them had expected their daughter to date anyone from another species. And, she was just starting to date… Jane seriously doubted that she was already being that intimate with her boyfriends. On top of that, their daughter had always been honest with both of her parents; while it was a rather sensitive subject, Jane couldn't see Emma keeping something like that from her _mother_, even if she didn't want to tell her father. Teenage girls were very curious about that subject but, her daughter hadn't even asked many questions on the matter. Nothing to indicate that it was even on her mind. And, both herself and her husband had always made sure they were both calm and understanding whenever Emma was nervous about telling them something; there was no reason for her to start hiding things now…

"I don't think she's had any partners, Garrus… She hasn't mentioned anything to me and… she's _just _started to _really _date…" Jane said, trailing off at the end.

"You've talked to her about it though, right? I thought human mother were supposed to talk to their daughters about… intercourse. The way I understood it, when we talked about this, was that _I _wasn't supposed to talk to her myself – you said you would. Your culture is so… squeamish about intercourse. It sounded like fathers shouldn't talk to their daughters about it…"

"Yes, I did talk to her about it. Once. I just… she never… mentioned it again. She hasn't said anything about… _that _to me," Jane said. "Besides, I've never known a girl to _willingly _talk to their father about sex. I mean… if she were turian… wouldn't her mother talk to her?" Jane had figured that Garrus had been so comfortable talking to Gaius for the first time because it was father and son. She would have talked to her daughter, whether she was turian or human. _Her _father had certainly never talked to her about sex or intimacy – her mother had taken on that job. Jane had just assumed that was simply what parents did, regardless of species: mothers talked to daughters and fathers talked to sons… But the way Garrus was huffing and rolling his eyes, that was, evidently, not accurate.

"We both would have talked to her. Jane, you know we view intercourse differently. It's not something to be secretive or embarrassed about, it just… is," Garrus said, turning towards the railing of the stairs and gripping the wooden frame. He wouldn't even be concerned about this if she were turian… Well… that wasn't entirely true. He'd be worried about her getting hurt. But, emotionally; not physically. Not… taken advantage of. By a drell. He groaned again and pushed his weight off the railing, turning back to his mate in exasperation.

"Jane, this wouldn't even be an issue if she was turian! She'd have… protection. I wouldn't be worried about her being… used! Your species is so vulnerable. How can she protect herself if someone – if he – tried to force himself on her?" he growled. The idea of that drell… touching her, _violating _her… Humans were so delicate, so vulnerable. They had no protection – on their skin or in any other more… delicate areas. Turian females had protection. A male had to first get the female sufficiently aroused and willing before he could even begin to physically stimulate her. Having a human mate… he knew just how exposed human females were. He had always loved how open Jane was, soft and bare and warm; he loved how he could tease her without having to bypass any protective measures. But, his _daughter… _his _human _daughter… and that drell. What if Emma was affected by his physiology and then he took advantage of her? There was nothing to stop him. Except his conscience, which, Garrus had a hard time believing any drell had. The soul separate from the body… there was no room for morality, for right and wrong, when that was the view. So, what was stopping him? _How is Jane so calm? Can't she see the danger Emma's in – the danger _we _aren't preventing._

"How do you know that, Jane?" he hissed, shutting his eyes against the thoughts coursing through him. _How can she just trust this drell – who we don't even know – with our daughter? I'm not going to let him hurt her… take advantage of her. Violate her. _

"Garrus… we have to trust her to tell us. Emma's strong. She knows how to handle herself better than most kids her age – male or female. And, if she did need help… I think we would know," Jane said, trying to pacify her husband. He merely growled again and returned his attention to the railing, his hands clenching against the wood. _There has to be something else he's worried about. This can't just be about Emma dating someone outside her species… _Her husband seemed to be taking this far too personally for it to just be about protecting his family.

"How do you know that?!" he repeated, releasing his grasp on the railing and whirling on his mate. "She hasn't talked to you about any of this, so how do you know that she would tell you?!" He was Emma's father. She was _his _daughter. It was his responsibility to keep his family safe – to keep his daughter safe.

"Garrus, I trust her. I don't think she would hide something like that from me – from us. If she needed help… she'd tell us," Jane reiterated, reaching out to try and stroke down the plane of his neck, hoping that she could calm him down. No father should be _this _worried about his children… Was this just a turian thing? Maybe all turian fathers were this protective of their daughters. He was just taking it all so… personally. What else could possibly be worrying him? Was there something he wasn't telling her?

"Jane, I'm not going to just allow her to put herself in a dangerous position! We don't know anything about him and I'm not going to let him harm my family. My daughter!" _I'm not going to allow my daughter to be harmed. This drell will not spend any more time with her – alone or otherwise – until I know who he is, what he's like. He's not going to hurt my daughter._

"Garrus, I—"

Joker's voice rang out through the room, echoing down the hallway and cutting Jane off midsentence. "Hey, aren't you done with the dishes yet? We haven't even gotten to the good part yet – you know: the part where I fly the _Normandy _in to save the Great Commander Shepard?"

Jane turned her head to try and look over at the living room – just to give her pilot a meaningful glance; he didn't always have the most opportune timing – but they were too far down the hall and the wall was blocking her view. Garrus apparently took that as his cue though, as he pushed around her and strode back over to the kitchen, immediately looking over at the two couples reclining on their couches. Jane sighed; that conversation did not go how she had hoped. He husband actually seemed more agitated now than he had been before – or during – dinner. With a deep breath and a slight shake of her head, she followed him over to the kitchen, a proper hostess expression painting her face. Garrus was already working on the last of the dishes, tossing them haphazardly into the sanitation receptacle; she walked back over to the table and grabbed the last few glasses, tossing Joker a smile on the way.

"We just have a few more dishes to finish up and then we'll come on over," Jane responded, smiling at their guests – though, if she had to chance a guess, she doubted her smile was completely convincing.

Jane tried to catch her husband's gaze a few times, but his attention was directed elsewhere: either on the dishes clasped a tad too roughly in his hands or on the youngest couple in their living room; his mandibles were back to twitching erratically against his jaw and she could only assume he was still focused on their daughter's sex life – or their daughter's _presumed_ sex life. With Garrus furiously trying to shove the remaining dishes in the receptacle – most likely trying to get over to his daughter faster – they finished up the dishes faster than she'd wanted to. Garrus wiped his hands on a dish towel before starting off towards the living room; Jane reached out and grabbed his arm before he managed to move past their counter.

"Garrus, please?" she asked, one last time, hoping that he would at least try to give the kid a chance.

He met her gaze steadily, but nothing about his posture indicated that her last-ditch effort had worked; his shoulders were still just as rigid, his mandibles were still flaring every few seconds, his brow plates were pulled together more tightly than normal, and a low rumble was still sounding out through his subharmonics. Sighing again, she reached down and gripped his hand, entwining their fingers in their own awkward hand-hold, and they both started over to the living room. They sat down on the large couch, situated in between the two couples in their respective loveseats; instead of reclining back and relaxing, Garrus leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on his knees and locking his eyes on the young drell. Sojat shifted his weight, moving a few inches closer to the armrest, trying to put a little more space between him and the turian's daughter. Garrus just smirked slightly at the boy's obvious discomfort. _Just a talk before he leaves tonight. Turian to drell. _

Jane sighed, glancing between her husband and her daughter's boyfriend. This night was turning out to be much more of a disaster than she could have ever anticipated.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! I'd love to know what you thought about this chapter! I'm working on chapter 6 for Fathers and Daughters as well as chapter 4 for Rematch, which will both hopefully be finished before too long! Thank you all for your patience! I really appreciate it!**


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